11112022 NEWS, SPORT AND BUSINESS

Grand Bahama and Abaco ‘fared well’ in Hurricane Nicole

By DENISE MAYCOCK, KHRISNA RUSSELL and LETRE SWEETING Tribune Staff Reporters

GRAND Bahama and Abaco avoided significant damage during the pas sage of Hurricane Nicole - with Acting Prime Minis ter Chester Cooper saying yesterday: “It looks like we have been spared the worst of it.”

The Minister for Grand Bahama, Ginger Moxey, said it was expected that the airport would reopen by last night, with only some debris to be cleared.

In Abaco, there was some flooding at the port and at Leonard M Thomp son International Airport, but no serious injuries were reported following the storm. Some businesses in Green Turtle Cay remained without power yesterday.

Molly McIntosh, general manager of the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina, said: “Nicole was stronger, certainly than I thought it was going to be... we had a little shock here, because it was stronger and longer than we thought.”

‘SHANTY TOWNS WILL NOT GO UNCHECKED FOREVER’

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

PUBLIC Works Minister Alfred Sears warned that illegal shanty towns will not be allowed to go unchecked indefinitely, while revealing that officials are reviewing an existing injunction with a view to making appropriate applications to the Supreme Court to crack down on the

unregulated communities. However, the minister would not say whether the government would be seek ing leave from the court to demolish newer structures. The review of the exist ing injunction was being done simultaneously as offi cials were in the midst of a survey of shanty towns to determine who lives in the structures.

By LYNAIRE MUNNINGS lmunnings@tribunemedia.net

WITH the return of the Boxing Day and New Year’s Day parades a few weeks away, the Prodigal Sons Junkanoo group is uncertain if it will be able to compete following a devas tating fire at their shack on Tuesday.

After a two-year hiatus due to the COVID-19 pan demic, the Prodigal Sons were “excited” for the

return of the parades.

According to Eric Knowles, the group’s leader, the Junkanoo group

had lost everything in the recent fire at their Yellow Elder shack location.

When asked by this news paper if he believes the group will be able to par ticipate in the upcoming parades, Mr Knowles said he is uncertain about what the future holds.

“Right now, I honestly don’t know how we can do it,” Mr Knowles said yesterday.

REGULATORS FREEZE FTX ASSETS AMID COLLAPSE

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

REGULATORS yes terday moved to protect clients of The Bahamas’ flagship crypto currency investor by “freezing” its assets, and seizing con trol of the company, amid reports it acquired $74m in local real estate this year alone.

The Securities Com mission, which Tribune Business revealed yester day was probing FTX’s near collapse, said the Supreme Court had approved Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton partner and head of its litigation practice group, as joint provisional liquidator with powers to take control of the crypto exchange’s Bahamian com pany and affiliate entities.

‘ZERO CARBON’ PLAN FOR $73M EXUMA RESORT

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A $73M INVESTMENT is aiming to attract 36,000 guests per year at full buildout of a “zero carbon” residential

The Ki’ama Bahamas project, in an Environ mental Impact Assessment (EIA) viewed by Tribune Business, said that its plans to develop a 36-acre com munity on the southern third of Elizabeth Island will create permanent employment for 80-85 Bahamians as well as 45-60 local jobs during the three to four-year construction period.

and yacht com munity on an Exuma cay located just three miles from Georgetown.

FLOODING outside the home of Errol Miller in West End, Grand Bahama, yesterday. Mr Miller said he “noticed the (sea) water starting to come over the seawall”. Pictured right is Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper during his visit to survey damage.

Main photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff

Grand Bahama ‘fared

well’ through hurricane

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama fared well overall during the passage of Hurricane Nicole, Minister for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey said yesterday.

“The airport fared pretty well there,” she said. “Of course, there is some debris there and some seaweed that washed ashore, and it is being cleared right now. And so, we believe the air port will be reopened by 6pm (yesterday).”

Ms Moxey said Acting Prime Minister Ches ter Cooper is expected in Grand Bahama sometime today.

Yesterday, she led an assessment team into West Grand Bahama. At West End, she saw that there was some coastal flooding in the settlement, particularly along the north shore.

On her arrival shortly before noon, a crew of workers were already on the ground clearing the road of the piles of seaweed and debris that had washed ashore over the seawall.

Administrator Ricardo Ferguson was relieved that the population of West End also fared well, despite not heeding the evacuation call.

“I am happy that the pop ulation of West End is well, even though they stayed, and they hunkered down during the storm.

“West End is back up and running and ready to move forward,” he said.

The major concern of res idents there, he said, is the lack of drainage in the com munity. “That is the key thing down here in the west, we need to put in proper drainage so that what you see behind us here, we will not experience.”

Ms Moxey and her team visited the residence of Errol Miller whose front yard was flooded with seawater.

He was at home when a surge of seawater swept over the seawall.

“I was home when I noticed the (sea) water starting to come over the seawall, and then after a while the water started to come in the yard, but the water never made it inside my house. It just settled in the yard,” Mr Miller said.

Roselyn Russell, owner of The Chicken Nest restau rant, which is also located on Bayfront Road on the north side, said there was some flooding, lots of rain, and wind.

“I stayed during the storm, and it rained a bit, and it was windy,” she recalled. “Water came through the windows because I don’t think they had sealed it properly.

“As you can see, I have some boxes out there to soak up the water, and upstairs we had to line the windows with towels to catch the water because water was coming through,” Ms Russell said.

“The seawater came all the way to the back, but it was only like two inches. I had no flooding inside, just mostly rain coming through the window. We could not control it because it kept coming in.”

Speaking to the flooding in West End, Ms Moxey believes the long-term solution to the issue is the need for more drainage in the area and additional seawalls.

“We need to get more drainage in here, we also need to build additional seawalls. That is a part of the budget, and we are focused really on resiliency.

“The master plan for this island that we are work ing on is tied to building with resiliency and for mitigation because Grand Bahama is known as the

centre of resilience because we deal with so many of these storms. And so, moving ahead we look to strengthen our infrastruc ture and be able to build with resiliency.”

When asked whether she would support an extension of the Special Economic Recovery Zone in the wake of the storm, Ms Moxey said: “I would support any thing that brings benefit to Grand Bahama. Of course, there are considerations that would have to be taken and the government has said that it will look at each case on a case-by-case basis. And so, I think we are still really supporting devel opment moving forward based on what we’ve been through - Grand Bahama and Abaco. And so, I don’t think it is that we won’t sup port it, I think it is more on a case-by-case basis. And so, I think that’s where it needs to be clarified, not just this blanket approach.”

On the question of man datory evacuations in reference to Sweeting’s Cay, Ms Moxey said it is something that has been discussed.

Thirty-six residents had evacuated, while ten remained.

“I think we will get to the

point where we go further into that, but right now we did everything we could. We sent out warnings, we made preparations to bring people to the mainland, and so I believe that we did well with that.”

“I know we have been very supportive and as a government we have done all we can to ensure our people are safe.”

Senator James Turner led the assessment to East End.

Mr Turner reported that he and a team went as far as High Rock.

He said there was mod erate flooding and roofs that were already compro mised were damaged a bit more.

“But no one got hurt, and we thank God for that,” he said.

Senator Kirkland Russell, deputy director of Urban Renewal, indicated that the government is focusing its efforts into recovery and repair with the passing of Nicole.

“We have done what was necessary in preparation and managing the shelters, evacuating, and ensuring EOC was properly manned and operated at high stand ard. Now, we shift into recovery and repair, and the government wants to ensure all our residents who have been suffering from Dorian, and those who may have incurred new damage and issues who need assistance, that the government is ready, and teams are already out doing assessment, and once the DPM hits the ground further instructions will be given.”

Water has been fully restored to Grand Bahama, however, power was restored to only sev eral areas by yesterday afternoon.

COOPER LEADS DELEGATION TO SEE DAMAGE

ACTING Prime Min ister Chester Cooper led a delegation of Cabinet ministers, members of the official opposition, and senior government officials from New Provi dence to Abaco in the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole.

Nicole passed over the island as a tropical storm but strengthened into a hurricane as it made land fall on Grand Bahama on Wednesday.

“We will continue to do some assessments but so far, so good. It looks like we have been spared from the worst of it,” Mr Cooper said, following a stop at the Friendship Tabernacle Church, which served as a shelter, and accommodated more than 200 persons.

The church is headed by pastor Silbert Mills, and was one of several shelters the team visited.

“Having gone through Nicole, we recognise that we are a resilient people; our infrastructure is fairly resilient as well. We have been protected for the most part, having not seen any serious damage or injuries or fatalities.

“We are grateful to Pastor Mills, the local community, and local government. During times like these, we come together, we rally together and support each other, that is what we do as Bahamians; we remem ber our assignment to be our brother’s keeper and I think that is how we are able to persevere. That is what is keeping us strong and protected as a people working together.”

Mr Cooper said that while there is an additional need for investment in infra structure, in addition to the port, and an “everpressing need for more housing” in the aftermath of Hurricane Dorian in 2019, the government has been making “significant

efforts” through the Department of Housing to address the housing needs.

“We still have some government employ ees, civil servants, who are living in the trailers nearby the government complex. We know that we have been making sig nificant efforts through the Ministry of Housing/ Department of Hous ing and my colleague Coleby-Davis (Minister JoBeth Coleby-Davis) has been doing a great work to really do PPPs (public private partner ships), but being here today and seeing the number of persons who still live in the trail ers is a reminder of the large quantity of hous ing required here and the government will continue to put its efforts behind these initiatives,” Mr Cooper said.

“I think that is what is going to really catapult the growth, the rebirth, the re-development of Abaco, is when we can find places for workers to live. People can return home and contribute positively to the overall economy.”

With regards to the need for additional investment in infra structure, he said: “We have looked at some of the infrastructure here, there is a need for some upgrades. We continue to do repairs to the air port since Hurricane Dorian. We are pressing forward there. We are going to move the Air Traffic Control tower to a different location, the professionals determined that it ought not to be built where it is so that is a project we are work ing on. Other remedial works, Parliamentary Secretary (John) Pinder has been driving for us and we continue to press forward to bring it back up to standard.”

MINISTER for Grand Bahama Ginger Moxey in West End, Grand Bahama, yesterday.

Photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff

ACTING Prime Minister Chester Cooper yesterday. Photo: BIS

THE FRIENDSHIP Tabernacle Church served as a shelter for 200 during the storm. Photo: BIS

FNM leader Michael Pintard and FNM MPs Kwasi Thompson and Iram Lewis visit residents at Corn wallis Drive in the aftermath of Nicole. Residents told them they are still awaiting home repairs since Dorian.

Photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff

No serious infrastructure damage suffered in Abaco

By KHRISNA RUSSELL Tribune Chief Reporter krussell@tribunemedia.net

ACTING Prime Minister Chester Cooper says Abaco fared well with no signifi cant infrastructure damage or serious injuries in the aftermath of Nicole.

The day after the storm followed the same path as Hurricane Dorian three years ago, Mr Cooper, along with government officials and the official opposition assessed the island.

However, with the pas sage of Nicole, Mr Cooper, said it was evident that there has not been enough investment in infrastructure since 2019’s Dorian.

He also noted that there had been some flood ing at the Abaco port and Leonard M Thompson International Airport, but this was expected due to the rainfall and sea swells asso ciated with Nicole.

“I am delighted to see that we have been pro tected and from the looks of the areas that we inspected

it seems that we fared quite well,” Mr Cooper told reporters yesterday at Abaco.

“So, I think this is a good message that we haven’t been significantly hurt in terms of our infrastructure but the message still is that since Dorian there hasn’t been enough investment

in infrastructure and we need to focus on really getting Abaco back to the pre-Dorian levels at a minimum.

“I think from the per spective of the port, Parliamentary Secretary (John) Pinder (III) and (Kirk) Cornish have both pointed out the need to

have this gateway restored so that there are facilities for employees to work from, that there is a proper build ing for customs and of course there can be some remedia tion work, some engineering, really when there is high tide or some surges really to pro tect the platforms that your have there.

“We understand there was some flooding there at the port. The waters came over maybe about a foot, foot and a half, and these are the kinds of things that now we see have hap pened during this particular storm.”

“No loss of life, no seri ous injuries, we fared well. God is good,” Mr Cooper also said.

Mr Cooper stressed that the country remained open for visitors, adding he did not anticipate any fall off in tourism.

“Tourism is strong. Tour ism will continue to be strong. We know that many of the tourists did not leave. They made a calculation that this is just a tropical storm or cat one and they stayed. God bless them. It’s worked out well for them and for tourism.

“We are posting very very strong numbers for tourism. I suspect that this year we are going to meet or exceed 2019 levels. The stop over numbers in particular look really good. The message

to the world is that Nicole has passed and we’re open for business and this is the message that we have sent during our missions.”

Asked whether the gov ernment would extend the Special Economic Recov ery Zone (SERZ) order for Abaco, Mr Cooper said Minister of Finance, Prime Minister Philip Davis would speak to the matter, adding that officials were consid ering exigency orders for those affected.

“What I do know is that they are looking at it at the moment.

“There will be some exigency orders madewhether it’s in the form of the existing SERZ or whether it’s adjusted. We are sensitive to the needs of both Abaco and Grand Bahama but we want the adjustments to be very measured.

“So, the Ministry of Finance is looking at it and no doubt over the coming days they will be able to make some announcements in that regard.”

BUSINESSES THANKFUL FOR MINIMAL IMPACT

By LETRE SWEETING lsweeting@tribunemedia.net

ABACO business owners are thankful their livelihoods were spared significant damage from Hurricane Nicole, which passed over the island as a tropical storm on Wednes day before strengthening over Grand Bahama.

The storm’s path was eerily familiar to monster storm Dorian, however the impact was much less severe.

Some businesses expe rienced water and debris related damage, while others said business was not inter rupted or disturbed at all. In the aftermath, busi nesses on Green Turtle Cay are still without power with some saying that the storm felt like a hurricane as it passed over the island.

Molly McIntosh, gen eral manager of The Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina in Green Turtle Cay, Abaco told The Trib une yesterday that she had a full house of guests and

scheduled events, but no electricity or water.

“Nicole was stronger, cer tainly than I thought it was going to be, it had much more of an impact than I thought it would and I think most of the people on Green Turtle Cay kind of felt the same way, that we just weren’t quite prepared. We had a little shock there, because it was stronger and longer than we thought,” Ms McIntosh said.

“We had several trees come down, we had a little bit of roof damage. We

have metal roofs and some of them flipped back and we have to get that repaired. Water came up over our docks,” she said.

Ms McIntosh said while she understands that power being restored on small islands takes some time and a lot of effort, her guests are concerned nonetheless.

“It’s not easy. We have no power, and water is just coming on now (yesterday). I have a full house. I have a wedding this weekend and every room, every villa is full,” Ms McIntosh said.

Eileen Hodgkins, a baker at another green Turtle Cay business, The Daily Bread Bakery, had similar sentiments.

“There’s been damage down at the dock where the freight boat comes in, that’s going to be a prob lem. But other than that, in the homestead, everybody did all right,” Ms Hodgkins said.

“We’re not open today (Thursday), too much debris in the yard, we have to get that straightened out first. I’m hoping to open tomorrow (Friday), if the power comes on,” she said.

Meanwhile, three busi nesses on Guana Cay experienced flooding, ero sion and debris washing inland.

Achara Wallace, general manager and vice president of Grabbers Bed, Bar, Dock and Grille on Guana Cay said pending assessment of his business, he partly reo pened yesterday.

“We’re ok, just a little

bit of cleanup that we’re undertaking at the moment. But no damage that I’ve seen and that’s pending an assessment of the place,” he said.

“I’m planning to open this evening (yesterday) after we get most of the debris and cleanup done. We’ll open our bar with a short menu this afternoon and then we should be in full swing by tomorrow (Friday),” Mr Wallace said.

Troy Sands, of Nippers Beach Bar and Grill on Guana Cay, said business is up and running today, as the restaurant only received minimal water damage.

“Only the deck got messed up and the stairs going down to the beach,” Mr Sands said.

A representative from The Orchid Bay Yacht Club Marina said, “We didn’t receive any severe damage, only debris floating around, typical storm stuff. But on the Atlantic side, you saw some damage on the beach, just erosion mostly, on Guana Cay in general.”

On the mainland, in Marsh Harbour, businesses said they did not experience too much damage and have already resumed normal activities.

Rayanne Malone, secre tary and shipping agent at United Abaco Shipping, said the business is run ning normally despite some rain and wind weathered through the night.

“It had some winds, but the water was not as much as what people would have

expected, so that part was good, besides if you lived on the shoreline, if you lived on Front Street, it was barely any rain, thankfully,” she said.

Donna Darville, from Premier Imports, just across from the Marsh Harbour clinic, said, “We got mini mal damage. You know part of (the planks) came off the side of the building, but everything else is in pretty good shape other than the flooding and water settled. Other than that everything’s fine here at the lumberyard.

“And the store, they say it’s pretty good too. We fared pretty good actu ally, thank God compared to Hurricane Dorian. We reopened today and we’re having a good flow of cus tomers looking for lumber for repairs and stuff like that,” she said.

Further north, in Coop er’s Town, Javal McIntosh, owner of 3JConstruction said overall conditions were okay.

“I think we did all right here. Well the power went off from Tuesday around 10pm or 11pm, we got power back about Wednes day, after the storm had passed, about two hours after that. So we didn’t have any damaged lines or any thing like that,” he said.

When asked if he was reopening yesterday Mr McIntosh said, “Maybe not today (Thursday), because we still have a lot of linger ing showers but tomorrow everything should be back to normal.”

MEMBERS of the Cabinet led by Acting Prime Minister Chester Cooper visited and assessed Marsh Harbour government dock, the government complex, Central Abaco High School, and Friendship Tabernacle Church yesterday. Photo: Anthon Thompson/BIS

WARM WATER MEANS LATE STORMS MAY CONTINUE

By EARYEL BOWLEG Tribune Staff Reporter ebowleg@tribunemedia.net

A CANADIAN mete orologist said that due to ocean waters getting increasingly warmer, the chances of seeing a storm this late in the season is a trend likely to continue.

He spoke after Hurricane Nicole passed over Abaco — it was a tropical storm at that time — before making its way over Grand Bahama and then to Florida.

Wade Szilagyi, of the Meteorological Service of Canada, said with Novem ber being the tail end of the hurricane season, it is unu sual to get a storm at this time.

Weather experts have pre dicted an active and “above average” Atlantic hurricane season, with four major hur ricanes expected this year.

The season, which started on June 1 and ends Novem ber 30, was forecast to have 19 named storms, with as many as nine hurricanes.

However, Mr Szilagy said the storm season was not as busy as predicted.

“I don’t believe it was a busy hurricane season,” he told The Tribune yesterday. “I know what the prediction was for it to be an above normal hurricane season,

but it actually started off late. As far as I under stand it was a late starting season. You know, we did have two or three, but no it was actually less than was predicted.”

The director of the International Center for Waterspout Research was sent to The Bahamas by the Rotary Club of Nassau in conjunction with Storm Intercept Weather Net work — a storm chasing organisation that provides “valuable ground truthing” and weather observations for the Bahamian weather service.

“So they were kind enough to invite me down here to The Bahamas to pri marily give a presentation on waterspouts in general and also in The Bahamas, but of course with the hur ricane we also went storm chasing, but the very first day. I saw a waterspout just getting off the plane, going to my first beach, and then I saw one the next day,” the meteorologist noted.

Asked what type of trends meteorologists see within this hurricane season in the Atlantic ocean, he men tioned that with increasing sea surface temperatures, hurricanes will tend to be stronger in the future.

“November is at the tail

end of the hurricane season and it is unusual to get a hurricane and so this was an unusual event with Hur ricane Nicole. But because the waters, the ocean waters, have been above average for this time of the year, the chances of seeing something this late in the season or even another hur ricane are higher than the average,” Mr Szilagyi said.

“So you know the ques tion does arise: does climate change have something to do with more hurricanes or anything like that. The jury’s still out, we don’t know but one thing is for sure with increasing sea sur face temperatures for sure, hurricanes will tend to be stronger in the future, as well as extend later in the season and we’re already starting to see that.”

Meanwhile, he spoke about the importance of the partnership with SI Weather Network as well as indications The Baha mas is another hotspot for waterspouts.

“So our partnership, just like our partnership with other storm chasing groups around the world, is wherever SI Weather Network members spot a waterspout they let us know - the International Center for Waterspout Research.

They send us a report and we have a live world water spout map project that’s on the go where any water spout report, (a) waterspout that’s been spotted around the world, we actually plot it on a Google world map. And the purpose of this is to see where waterspout hotspots are occurring around the world. This is something that’s never been done before. This affects things like shipping and air lines and so forth.”

Mr Szilagy continued: “But just also the scientific understanding, like we do know, it’s a known fact that the Florida cays right now have the most waterspouts reported in the world. But because of our partnership with SI Weather Network, we are getting a lot more reports here, especially

around New Providence and throughout The Baha mas and it’s starting to indicate that actually The Bahamas is another hotspot for waterspouts as well.

“But everything depends on, you know, the observers that we have. Waterspouts are happening in the middle of the ocean. They’re occur ring but no one’s seeing them. So it doesn’t mean that there’s other hotspots but right now, because of our partnership in the last year we’ve been getting a lot of waterspouts reports from The Bahamas and this is really helping fill in the gaps of our knowledge about where waterspouts are occurring around the world.”

As for the condition that makes The Bahamas favour able for waterspouts, he

pointed to the warm water.

“You’re fortunate to have year-round warm water and so that’s one of the ingredi ents for waterspouts. You want relatively warm water and moist conditions which you have here and that causes convection or instabil ity in the atmosphere and lift.

“So that’s one of the ingredients, the other ingredient you need is for the wind speeds not to be too strong and there are several times where that happens. So the combina tion of the moisture, the instability because of the warm water and air, these are prime conditions for waterspout formation, and through the observations of the SI Weather Net work that’s confirming what we’ve always tended to believe.”

PINTARD: GET ON WITH COMPLETING HOME REPAIRS

By DENISE MAYCOCK Tribune Freeport Reporter dmaycock@tribunemedia.net

FREE National Move ment leader Michael Pintard is calling for the government to move with urgency to complete home repairs that were approved since Hurricane Dorian under the Minnis administration.

He stressed that many residents on Grand Bahama and Abaco are still await ing repairs to their homes, which have suffered further damage with the passage of Hurricane Nicole.

Mr Pintard and his team, including FNM MPs Kwasi Thompson and Iram Lewis, were on the ground in the aftermath of Nicole check ing on residents in various constituencies.

They first stopped in Pin eridge at Cornwallis Drive where they checked on residents who were living in homes and apartments that were still awaiting repairs since Dorian.

“There is a need for the government to move with a great sense of urgency in remedying those situa tions in Abaco and Grand Bahama,” Mr Pintard said.

“The repair of homes that have been damaged since Dorian is a very seri ous concern. A lot of the anxiety in Grand Bahama was related to the fact that persons still had challenges with roofs still leaking, and

doors and windows that had not been fully repaired.”

Mr Pintard said that in some cases persons are temporarily living with their families in small accommodations.

“When you talk about preparations for this par ticular event, we cannot separate it from those persons who had been approved from the time we were in office for home repairs and had gotten a firm commitment from the government. The govern ment changed and they have not been remedied yet.”

He stated that assistance for repairs of $2,500, $5,000, $7,500, and in the case of full destruction of a home, $10,000, goes a long way.

Mr Pintard said that large piles of debris were another issue they had noticed on the ground.

He said they will be vis iting all five constituencies in Grand Bahama. He also explained that they were unable to accompany the government delegation into Abaco to do an inspection because the airport was still closed in Grand Bahama at the time. He said MP Adrian White and other members of their team will travel with the government delegation.

On the matter of shelters, the FNM leader said there is a need to put in place multi-purpose facilities instead of using schools.

“One of the concerns is

that there is a need for us to settle this issue of hurri cane shelters. We continue to have this conversation whenever a major event occurs and so what we are expecting is that this admin istration would ensure that we have proper shelters that are fully established.

“It is fine we believe to use schools now, however at the moment the schools themselves have chal lenges. One thing that has to be done in earnest is to put in place multi-purpose use facilities and hurricane shelters being one of those usages,” he said.

In terms of debris, he said: “We have not been integrated in the island wide cleanup programme. So, we took our own initia tive to run programmes or get in contact with Sanita tion (Services). There is a need for full collaboration with respect to the com plete cleanup of GB.”

“When (the FNM) did it in the past, we indiscrimi nately hired Bahamians to work on the work crews. We did not check in advance to see what the political orien tation was of persons. We want that same kind of fair ness and even handedness going forward,” he said.

Mr Thompson, MP for East Grand Bahama, and Mr Lewis, MP for Central Grand Bahama, stressed the importance of the extension of the SERZ order for Grand Bahama

and Abaco due to the flood ing and minor damage Nicole brought to commu nities still recovering from Dorian.

Mr Thompson said it was a significant setback to the repairs that were already in progress.

“That makes the call for SERZ order extension that much more relevant. It must be extended. The SERZ order must be extended for the islands

of GB, and Abaco,” Mr Thompson said.

In McLean’s Town, he said there was no significant flooding or damage, but residents who were in the process of repairing their homes sustained further damage.

“We also heard from High Rock and Freetown, and some other settle ments in between and they all fared well, however the power is still off in areas out

east, and there are home repairs set back, and we are hearing reports of home and roof damage because of the passing of the storm.

Mr Thompson reported that there is still significant flooding in Bevans Town. He said the area is only passable by truck.

He reported that resi dents ‘over the bridge’ also fared well, but there are setbacks in terms of home repairs.

A GOES-East GoeColor satellite image of Tropical Storm Nicole approaching the northwestern Ba hamas on Tuesday.

Photo: NOAA via AP

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Safe and sound after the storm

IT’S pleasant to be able to report good news.

Hurricane Nicole has passed with out major damage, it seems. We can be thankful for that mercy – particularly given all that Grand Bahama and Abaco went through with Hurricane Dorian. But we should also give credit where it is due.

In this column ahead of the storm, we urged people to take the storm seriously – and people did.

Whether it was a matter of remem bering all that had gone before with Hurricane Dorian, or simply being pre pared, people stocked up on supplies, put up their shutters, prepared sandbags and more as the storm drew near.

NEMA did its job, issuing warnings to advise people of the coming storm, and people responded to those alerts, with many moving out to shelters as the storm arrived.

Not all evacuated, with the admin istrator of West End, Grand Bahama, pointing out many did not heed the call.

Ricardo Ferguson said: “I am happy that the population of West End also fared well, despite not heeding the evacuation call.”

There is plenty of flooding in places, and an issue with a lack of drainage in some locations that could mean it will be a while before flood water brought by the storm surge or the pouring rain will ebb away.

Residents in Grand Bahama talked of water coming over the sea wall and coming to their doors but not much get ting inside.

Still there were areas where perhaps some more preparation could have been done.

Over in Green Turtle Cay, the gen eral manager of the Bluff House Beach Resort and Marina, talked of how the storm felt stronger than expected. Molly McIntosh said: “Nicole was stronger, certainly than I thought it was going to be, it had much more of an impact than I thought it would and I think most of the people on Green Turtle Cay kind of felt

the same way, that we just weren’t quite prepared. We had a little shock there, because it was stronger and longer than we thought.

“We had several trees come down, we had a little bit of roof damage. We have metal roofs and some of them flipped back and we have to get that repaired. Water came up over the docks.”

All told, though, The Bahamas appears to have fared well in the storm – and we should not just accept that fact, but celebrate it.

Because there is bad news too. Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis sounded the alarm this week that climate issues are only going to get worse – and in today’s Tribune, a meteorologist warns that with ocean waters warming up, the chances of seeing more storms like Nicole, a hurricane late in the season, are higher than previously.

Wade Szilagyi said: “November is at the tail end of the hurricane season and it is unusual to get a hurricane and so this was an unusual event with Hurri cane Nicole. But because the waters, the ocean waters, have been above average for this time of the year, the chances of seeing something this late in the season or even another hurricane are higher than the average.

“So you know the question does arise: does climate change have something to do with more hurricanes or anything like that. The jury’s still out, we don’t know but one thing is for certain with increasing sea surface temperatures for sure, hurricanes will tend to be stronger in the future, as well as extend later in the season and we’re already starting to see that.”

So well done to all for playing their part in being ready for the storm. But know we’ll likely have to do so again. And again.

We have learned some of our lessons from storms such as Dorian. We have shown some of those lessons in prepar ing for Nicole. We will just have to keep learning, and when we need to do so –be ready.

Demolition of police station

EDITOR, The Tribune.

ANYONE who reads The Tribune’s Weekend maga zine will probably know of my interest in Bahamian history and the preserva tion thereof.

I was surprised to see the old, wooden Cable Beach Police Station has been demolished.

I have always assumed that the lot on which it was built was government property because, behind the police station the old Telecommunications Department had a substa tion and, behind that was Governor’s Beach.

What happened to the telephone station I do not know, but I do remember

LETTERS

going there several times, always at night, in the late 1940s, with my thenbrother-in-law, Carl M Bethel.

Carl was a technician with ‘Telecoms’ and got called out when there was a fault that had to be fixed. I believe that building was the site where the under water telephone cable came ashore.

That, in itself, is historic but it is also the reason why the name Cable Beach was coined, by J S John son. Strictly speaking, Mr Johnson chose Cable Beach

as the name of a stretch of waterfront property that he was subdividing. It extended from (what is now) Sandals, eastward to the Police Station.

The name of the beach to the east of the station was Emerald Beach (not Cable Beach) and that’s how the Emerald Beach Hotel got its name, in 1954. It was built on the site of the old Emerald Beach Club, where Bahamians could go swimming. I remem ber playing in the ‘ghostly’ ruins of that entity, when friends and I ventured that far, on our bicycles.

PAUL C ARANHA Nassau,

November 10, 2022.

Readers speak up

AFTER Prime Minis ter Philip “Brave” Davis warned that climate issues will only get worse, read ers on www.tribune242.com had their say.

K4C said: “I almost spit up in my mouth, WOW how can Davis spew such foolishness.”

Columbuspillow added: “Please no more irresponsi ble, self-serving apocalyptic warnings of climate change. The evidence is not there. And these warnings are doing a lot of harm to our children in the mean time; we are not going to survive!”

Sheeprunner12 brought issues closer to home, saying: “The Beggar in Chief is hunting his carbon credits... wish him well.

“We still have to pay high BPL bills, pay hurricane insurance rates + VAT, and watch our fisheries disap pear from poaching... Brave what you gern do about that??????????”

Realfreethinker said: “The treasury will continue to get worse if he keeps traveling like he and his croonies do.”

Lastmanstanding added: “Our country is becoming an international disgrace. Between the begging and murders, we are turning into a clownshow in the eyes of the international community.”

MaximillianOtto also looked to other issues, saying: “In every normal

country the minister responsible for the Our Lucaya disaster would resign. „Vetting Exumas $1,2 bn investors“ Who’s vetting him? FTX will close. SEC investigation ongoing so toxic investment. Nega tive value. Binance also on SEC radar so walked away. Maybe government should buy? Competence of Minister for Investment shouldn’t be of any doubt.

Then merge with Arago nite into Sovereign Wealth Fund. Rothschild will advise and Kristalina will congratulate Brave. Sand everywhere. Trouble wait ing in the billions lawsuits when returning from holi day trip.”

Porcupine added: “Empty, hollow words. Even the ridiculous deniers like Columbopillow are spinning around like a child.

We are finished. Rising sea levels coupled with greed and ignorance will soon take their toll.”

Rosiepi said: “How embarrassing it is to listen to Davis head of a govern ment known chiefly by it’s corruption, stand on the world’s stage pontificating about his people’s “moral purpose” on climate activ ism. His self aggrandizing speechifying even claimed that other countries had adopted his environmental safeguards/projects! Will wonders never cease? I recall his boasting in these pages about his knowledge of etiquette whilst he trips across the world racking up our debt load, so why then did he so rudely leave well ahead of the end of the speeches?” • Join the discussion at www.tribune242.com.

letters@tribunemedia.net

IN the aftermath of Hurricane Nicole’s passage, political leaders visited Grand Bahama and Abaco to inspect the damage - which was thankfully minimal from the storm.

Photo: Denise Maycock/Tribune Staff

PAIR GUILTY OVER MARIJUANA FIND

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A MAGISTRATE yes terday fined two men who were found with a quan tity of marijuana outside a home two months ago.

Police arrested Walcott Moss, 24, and Gregory Saint Merant, 23, on Sep tember 18 after they found them with several silver wraps containing marijuana while outside a home on Palm Breeze Drive.

Police said they were on mobile patrol in the area when they saw the accused sitting under a tree.

The accused were searched. Officers found three grams of marijuana in a foil wrap on Moss.

They also found 20 silver foil wraps containing 1 and 7/8 ounces of marijuana inside a blue and white Wen dy’s cup near the accused.

The discovery led to the men’s arrest. While being interviewed by police, Moss admitted to the drugs found on him.

However, both denied owning the marijuana found inside the Wendy’s cup, tell ing police it belonged to another person.

Moss and Merant were charged with possession of dangerous drugs with intent to supply while Moss faced an additional charge of

simple possession.

During their second appearance before Magis trate Algernon Allen, Jr, yesterday, they admitted to the offence after initially pleading not guilty.

In mitigation, their attor ney, Ian Jupp, asked the court for leniency, saying the drugs were not of a sub stantial amount and that his clients were remorseful for their actions.

He also described the accused as men of good character as they had never had any run-ins with the law and had two jobs.

The men were also said to be the main breadwin ners of their families.

The magistrate said while he took these matters into account, he could not turn a blind eye to their behaviour as marijuana possession was still not legal in the country.

As a result, he fined Moss $400 or three months for simple possession and an additional $750 or six months for the second count of drug possession with intent to supply.

Merant was also fined $750 for possession of dan gerous drugs with intent to supply. He was also told that failure to pay the fine would also result in six months behind bars.

In order to avoid jail time, they must make the payments by December 9.

‘DRUNK TEENAGER GUILTY OF DISORDERLY BEHAVIOUR

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A TEENAGER who behaved in a disorderly manner and cursed at police because he claimed he was drunk was yester day ordered to be of good behaviour.

Keishawn Miller, 19, was arrested on November 5 after officers found him on Dowdeswell Street behav ing in a disorderly manner.

Officers said when they warned Miller about his behaviour, he replied: “You don’t know who the f—k I is.”

Police said they warned the young man a second time, but he continued to act in a disorderly manner. As a result, he was searched and officers retrieved a knife he had on him.

Miller was arrested and taken to the police station, where he admitted the offence.

During his hearing before Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, yesterday, the teenager pleaded guilty to one count each of disorderly behaviour, obscene language and the unlawful carrying of arms.

When asked the reason for his disorderly behav iour, he said he had just left the club and was drunk.

“Why were you carrying a knife?” the magistrate asked.

“I always carry that to protect myself,” he replied.

He also told the court he was sorry for his behaviour. Before sentencing, Crown prosecutor Sgt Vanessa Moss recom mended the accused be fined and ordered to attend anger management classes.

Taking into consideration his early guilty plea, among other factors, Magistrate Allen Jr, decided not to fine him. Instead, the magistrate ordered Miller write a letter of apology to the arresting officer that night for his dis orderly behaviour and using obscene language.

He was told failure to do so would result in 14 days behind bars; however, if he complies with the condi tions, he will be granted an absolute discharge.

As to the unlawful carry ing of arms charge, Miller was told to be of good behaviour for three months or in default, serve 21 days in prison.

64-YEAR-OLD ACCUSED OF SEX WITH GIRL, AGED 12

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

A 64-YEAR-OLD man accused of having sex with a minor last year was remanded in custody yesterday.

Maxwell Ferguson was arrested after police alleged he had unlawful sexual intercourse with a 12-yearold girl between November and December of last year.

He is further accused of trying to have unlaw ful sex with her again in January and indecently assaulting her on two

separate occasions between September and October 2021.

Ferguson was not required to enter a plea when he appeared before Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, yesterday. He was told the matter would proceed by way of a voluntary bill of indictment (VBI).

The presentation of the VBI is expected on January 13. Ferguson was remanded to the Bahamas Department of Correc tional Services until then. However, he has a right to apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

PAIR ACCUSED OF ARMED ROBBERY

By LEANDRA ROLLE Tribune Staff Reporter lrolle@tribunemedia.net

TWO men, accused of robbing two people at gunpoint last month, were charged in the Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

Danny Lightfoot, 32, and Malcolm Rolle,19, appeared before Magistrate Algernon Allen, Jr, charged with two counts of armed robbery.

Police allege the accused robbed two people of $135 cash at gunpoint on October 24. Lightfoot was further charged with attempted murder and

attempted armed robbery after police alleged that he, along with another, tried to rob and kill another man.

Due to the nature of the charges, neither of the accused was allowed to enter a plea.

They will return to court for presentation of their voluntary bill of indictment on January 13.

Until then, they will be sent to prison. How ever, they can apply to the Supreme Court for bail.

Rolle was repre sented by attorney Tavarrie Smith. Lightfoot was not represented. Sgt Vanessa Moss prosecuted.

53-year-old man was victim of latest killing

By JADE RUSSELL jrussell@tribunemedia.net

THE man who was shot dead outside his Kool Acres home on Wednesday night has been identi fied by area residents as 53-year-old Nathan Stubbs.

According to police, the incident occurred shortly before 10pm outside the victim’s residence.

Police were alerted to the killing sometime after 9pm on Wednesday. He was pronounced dead at the scene.

Asked by a reporter if police were concerned about the ongoing spate of killings, Chief Superintendent Michael Johnson said: “Well we are always concerned, one murder is too much.

“We again, every week we meet, and we come up with strategies and tweak strategies in trying to deal with these matters. And we continue to ask the public to please be careful, be aware of their surroundings and assist

the police as much as possible.”

Meanwhile, activist Khandi Gibson, of Families Of All Murder Victims, said the real victims of the killings are the family members who now have to mourn the loss of a loved one.

“It’s sad for me because the real vic tims are not the person on the ground, the real victims are the family mem bers who are grieving, are hurting, and feel betrayed. Because the majority of times it’s not strangers killing our loved ones, but it’s their friends or their family members.

“It’s us who are left to bargain with God, ‘God why you ain’t take me? if you had just given me one more chance with them.’

“What is even more sad, it’s the fact that while many were still under cover or indoors from Tropical Storm Nicole, we have someone out here for some reason, who decided to take the life of a young man last night (Wednesday),” Ms Gibson said.

Ms Gibson added that although a number of people who have been

murdered recently were out on bail for serious offences that person is still someone’s loved one and family.

“Someone still loves that person, regardless of what he or she was accused of, that is still someone’s loved one,” Ms Gibson said.

It is understood that the victim was on bail on drug-related matters.

This latest killing has pushed the country’s murder count to 116, accord ing to this newspaper’s records.

It follows a series of recent violent incidents in the country.

On November 4, a man believed to be in his mid-20s or early 30s was shot in his car at Palm Breeze Drive.

On November 2, a German man, identified as 57-year-old Torsten Hen drick, was killed and another was seriously injured in a double shooting in Kemp’s Bay, Andros.

Two days earlier, a woman in her 40s was fatally shot after receiving a phone call to come outside of her Johnson Road home.

THE SCENE of the murder in Kool Acres on Wednesday night.

Photo: Austin Fernander

How green spaces can make life sweeter

“BOY ELUTRA sweet nah!” was the response from someone who had just learned that I was relocating from Nassau to Eleuthera.

I often get similar responses from folks who ask how my family is enjoy ing living in Eleuthera.

Everyone who’s vaca tioned on any of the Family Islands can attest to this “sweetness”. Have you ever wondered why island life is “sweet”? Why do you feel so restored after a Family Island vacation? Being on vacation is part of it, but not the whole story. The reason we find island life “sweet” has been scientifically stud ied and documented and it will serve us well to pay attention to the data to pro tect the “gold” that carpets much of our archipelago.

The “sweetness” that we feel when visiting our Family Islands has a lot to do with their very nature –vast expanses of untouched forests.

Exposure to green spaces like forests has been stud ied over the past 30 years by natural and social scien tists who have made some surprising findings. For instance, can you imagine your time recovering from

By Dr Selima Hauber

surgery being shortened just by having a view of nat ural scenery outside your window? Add to that the need for less and weaker postoperative pain killers and ensuring that hospital recovery rooms overlook a beautiful park becomes a no-brainer that can poten tially save our healthcare system hundreds of thou sands of dollars!

What I find even more fascinating is that our immune system functioning is improved after contact with nature. Researchers have recorded increases in our bodies’ natural killer cells after a walk in the woods. These specialised white blood cells course through our bodies and annihilate cancerous cells and infected cells!

Other studies show improvements in markers of cardiovascular health

after contact with nature. It is indisputable that our green Family Islands are crucial to our physical health.

The benefits don’t stop at physical wellbeing. Mental health is also supported by time spent in the great out doors. Exposure to green environments improves cognitive functioning, increases ability to focus, and increases resilience in the face of stressful events.

Decreases in stress and anxiety were quantified by decreases in blood pressure, pulse rate and the stress hormone cortisol. This explains the feeling of stress vanishing as you venture down the heavily vegetated, single-lane roads of the Family Islands.

The connection between exposure to green space and depression is so strong that researchers can predict

DR SELIMA HAUBER

the prevalence of depression in neighbour hoods based on the amount of “greenness” of that neighbourhood. One study in the UK showed that pharmacies in greener neighbourhoods dispensed fewer antidepressants than those in less green areas.

Improvements in physi cal and mental health are astounding enough, but social wellbeing is also improved by contact with nature.

In a famous study of a housing project in Chicago, residents in buildings sur rounded by trees and grass reported stronger social ties, a greater sense of com munity and healthier social functioning in shared space than those who resided in buildings whose courtyards were devoid of trees and grass.

There were less reports of aggression, violence and general social breakdown. These findings were cor roborated by police crime reports. Buildings that were heavily vegetated had 52% fewer total crimes, 48% fewer property crimes and 56% percent fewer vio lent crimes! The level of crime the capital is cur rently experiencing is very disconcerting and certainly connected to a myriad of influencing socio-economic factors.

Can ensuring that each neighbourhood has a well-maintained, public greenspace cultivate a greater sense of social and mental wellbeing among the residents, and help to restore the legacy of the connected communal com munities of yesteryear?

Environmen tal protection is a high priority at One Eleuthera Foundation. Our campus was carefully carved out of an overgrown property making it a beau tiful, tranquil place to work. We are keenly aware of the value of our terrestrial and marine environment and strive to promote cautious, sustainable development of all Family Islands. It is easy to make the case for envi ronmental protection when considering climate change and protection of biodiver sity, yet we still find vast expanses of forests being cleared for development.

Do the data regarding nature’s effect on our over all wellbeing weigh heavily enough to deter you from clear-cutting to build your forever home? I am so encouraged by the Forestry (Declaration of Protected Trees) Order gazetted in February of 2021 that lists over one hundred protected plant species, including endemic, endan gered or threatened species as well as those of cultural and economic importance.

Before one develops a vegetated site, permits from the Department of Environmental Planning & Protection, and the Depart ment of Forestry are now required. This is a big step in the right direction towards increasing public awareness of the value of our native forests.

For a small island devel oping state like ours, with limited industry and extremely vulnerable reve nue generating sources, we have to put a dollar value on this natural resource and the services it provides.

Healthcare costs stand to crush our economy with our high rates of non-commu nicable diseases.

We have a great opportunity to plan the development of our Family Islands in such a way as to ensure that they remain mostly green and are availa ble to provide the numerous healing ecosystem services that rich and poor alike benefit from. Protecting it for us and visitors to expe rience ensures lifetimes of health and wealth. Make it a priority to experience greenspaces regularly, just as you would take a multivi tamin or drink eight glasses of water daily for your gen eral health. The benefits to your overall well-being are priceless!

Dr Selima Hauber, PhD, is the agricultural educa tion and outreach officer at OEF and CTI. Established in 2012, the One Eleuthera Founda- tion (OEF) is a non-pro t organisation located in Rock Sound, Eleuthera. For more information, visit www. oneeleuthera.org or email info@oneeleuthera. org.

The Centre for Training and Innovation (CTI) is the rst and only postsecondary, non-pro t education and training institution and social enterprise on Eleuthera. CTI operates a student training campus in Rock Sound, Eleuthera, with a 16-room training hotel, restaurant and farm. For more information about CTI’s programmes email: info@oneeleuthera.org.

We must appreciate the “gold” that lies in the greens and blues of our forests and waters to support our physical, social and mental wellbeing.

of One Eleuthera Foundation

View from the sidewalk

IT’S amazing what trying to look at something through someone else’s eyes can reveal.

Say that someone else is a visitor who is accus tomed to landlocked hills and valleys and the emo tion they must feel when they first set sight on the stunning turquoise waters of The Bahamas -- eyes wide open, staring in wonder at the jaw-drop ping beauty unfolding before them. A vision that matched or exceeded the glory of The Bahamas promised in all the tourist books and ads.

Or when that same visi tor who is accustomed to a clean town with attrac tive plantings and wide sidewalks steps onto a side street off Bay Street and is hit smack in the eyeballs by what looks like a poor Middle East market with clothes, totes and bags hanging outside a dusty window though you can hardly see the dust for the hand-written signs taped all over the window.

The two faces of The Bahamas – those breath taking waters wrapped in the outstretched arms of a half-moon beach with water so clear you can read heads and tails on a coin below, in con trast to the tackiness of a city in desperate need of management and tender, loving care, a city that should be the heartbeat of a nation, and was once the pride of the country? How do you reconcile the differences between those two faces to find a solution that every face we show is one that not just brings a smile to the visitor but

a sense of pride to us as Bahamians as we start our journey to 50 years of independence?

We show the best and the worst to our visitors that we spend a fortune every year to lure here, though the cruise indus try does the heavy lifting on its business, delivering millions of people it’s up to us to impress enough to attract them back as stay over visitors or to return on another cruise.

The treasures we show them – our waters, our palms and mangroves, our endless horizon of clear blue sky, our sunsets and sunrises that take your breath away – are the ele ments we inherited.

The disgraces we show them are the mess we have made of what we were given.

We can spend any amount of money cele brating our 50th but if we do not face the reality that an historic city that is not aging gracefully needs a mayor or manager, along with the right to govern its destiny, we are, pardon my frankness, spitting into the wind.

No mom or pop shop over the hill opens with out a manager in place and yet we open the capi tal of our country, the first place and last space mil lions of visitors see every year, without any man agement whatsoever. This is not to downplay the attempts by the Down town Nassau Partnership to do what it can, nor to ignore the fact that there is a new tourism police station or an increase in police presence, but look at the economic, social and cultural reality.

We are not alone in this. Look at New York, Baltimore, Boston, Phila delphia, even Atlanta and Savannah, all cities that fared worse for neglect but were brought back to life. Look at a community

A short note about climate change

TROPICAL storm Nicole that hurled through Abaco and Grand Bahama as it worked its way into hurricane status was the latest in a series of potentially catastrophic events that made everyone pay attention to weather, even those who continue to deny the real ity of climate change. Part of the problem with telling the story of climate change is that we tend to focus on major events like a Nicole, an Ian, the hurricane that devas tated so much of southwest Florida weeks earlier, or Dorian two years before.

By thinking in terms of the dramatic events, we leave ourselves open to those who say typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes have happened as long as there has been life on earth. Cities vanish underwater, islands rise and disappear, weather has cre ated deserts and plains. It’s all cyclical, the

climate change deniers say.

And, in a way, they are right, there have been cyclical catastrophic events through out history, though they come at us faster and with greater intensity and strength now than they did before.

But the reality we should focus on that leaves no doubt about climate change is the less dramatic events, the slowly rising temperatures that will impact agriculture, heat waves, drought, less rainfall, all of which will cause a decline in food security, eventual increase in illness, malnutrition, starvation and even death in the poorest of countries affected by the changes. Bang ladesh, Haiti, the Philippines, Honduras, Nicaragua and least able to pay the price will do just that.

To save nature is to save humanity. That is the discussion we need to have around climate change.

like Greenwich Village or Chelsea in New York, the latter once a meat-pack ing district that no one ever dreamed would be the sought-after address for arts, photography, ad production, videography, expensive lofts and tony delis. Look at Vienna in Austria or Venice in Italy. Is it a news flash to remind ourselves that it is not the state that saves economies, but the city that is the main player in macro-economics?

The living city is part of our connectedness, our oneness, our sense of community.

I am no urban planner, no architect, draftsman or designer. I am just some one who loves historic

Nassau and gave years of my life trying to pro tect and preserve what I believe is one of the most precious architectural treasures in the region.

Our trees, our harbour, our views, our walkways are all important ele ments, but it is the bones of our buildings, few more than two stories high, that together make a quilt of the finest struc tural components. In 2006, we unveiled the Master Plan for Historic Nassau. Watching it brought tears to the then Prime Minis ter Perry Christie’s eyes.

I shall never forget that event nor the promises that were made to save the historic City of Nassau before it was too late.

It is still not too late. But the clock is ticking with every hand-hewn piece of woodwork replaced by something manu factured in bulk, every arched entry replaced by a straight line, every court yard alive with greenery looked at for how it can become a roofed-in rev enue generator.

May the road to 50 be more than a pat on the back for some and a party for all.

May it be the moment we take a deep breath and resolve to save the historic city that is the capital and the most famous land mark in of the nation whose independence we celebrate.

Tuesday, 29th November 2022 7:30 PM EST

St. Andrews Anglican Community Center on Queens Highway (opposite Peace & Plenty) in George Town, Great Exuma Google Meet Link: https://meet.google.com/ckn-bgkr-qkw

Hard copies of the EIA can be viewed at the Administrator’s Office in George Town Exuma, at the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP) in Nassau during normal working hours, or at https://www.kiamabaha mas.com/EIA. The public is invited to send written comments to inquiries@depp. gov.bs or EIAPublicComments2022@kiamabahamas.com no later than 21 days after the date of the public meeting as noted above.

WE show the best and the worst to our visitors that we spend a fortune every year to lure here.

The general public and residents of the Exumas are cordially invited to attend a virtual and in-person Public Town Meeting to discuss the findings of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) for the Ki’ama Bahamas project, scheduled for the southern portion of Elizabeth Island, Gt. Exuma. The Developers intend to establish an environmentally sustainable, low-carbon, solar residential resort and solar powered yacht community on 35 acres of private land.

Blaze at Prodigal Sons shack

“To say that we could just get up and go like that, I would have to speak to everybody to see what their intentions are but, definitely what we lost here there is no way in hell we could just get that back in six, seven weeks,” he added.

Having recently completed repairs and expansions of the Junkanoo shack, Mr Knowles along with the group members are devastated.

Mr Knowles recalled what he believed transpired on that day, as he said that the welding of the Junkanoo costumes played a significant role in the fire as the costumes are highly flammable.

He said: “What basically hap pened was we were in the process of opening up the step-down frames and making an adjustment to accommodate the two wheels and the handles where the person would actually hold it and push it.

“I wasn’t in the shack that morn ing, the welder was in the shack that morning. He had already finished seven costumes so basi cally all you had to do was well three others.... Before I left, I told a colleague of mine who was in the shack to assist the welder and watch him because when you use those grinders and stuff like that cutting metal, they send sparks.

“The difficulty with the cos tume was he had to go under the

costume because this costume was already basically complete. So, he was underneath there weld ing under the costume and if you under the costume, welding then you can see what’s happening and basically on the side.

“I think by the time they real ised that costume was on fire, and it could have been another costume just too close to that costume, I guess I couldn’t do anything more so they just ran outside.”

He said the group had recently purchased $2,000 worth of bass drums for the upcoming parades.

At a loss for words, Mr Knowles said: “The mood I’m in right now, I really really don’t feel like talk ing to anybody. Just standing here, I can’t believe that it actually happened.”

In September, the government granted $928,500 in seed funding to the groups for them to make a comeback on Bay Street.

This came three years after cat egory A Groups Music Makers and Prodigal Sons made the deci sion to scrap participation in the 2019 New Year’s Day Junkanoo parade, saying seed funding from the government at the time was simply insufficient and forced their decision to sit out.

Yesterday, Mr Knowles said the government is their only sponsor, therefore it serves as a challenge to participate in the upcoming parade after the fire.

‘SHANTY TOWNS WILL NOT GO UNCHECKED FOREVER’

from page one

Meanwhile, National Security Minister Wayne Munroe said “people who break the law to build houses in this fashion begin to display themselves as lawless and lawlessness is something that can be problematic”.

The ministers spoke to the shanty town issues yes terday in Abaco where officials visited The Farm - an irregular community that has mushroomed in size over the last few years.

The visit also follows the Spanish Wells Commonage Committee’s implementa tion of a one-year building ban due to the expansion of shanty towns on genera tional farmland last month.

According to a letter recently posted to Face book by Ivanhoe Sweeting, chairman of the Spanish Wells Commonage Com mittee, the ban went into effect on October 25.

“First of all I commend the Commonage Com mittee because it is their land,” Mr Sears said. “The government has also issued a prohibition. Currently there is an injunction in the Supreme Court. We are reviewing that injunction and part of the response will also involve making appropriate applications to the Supreme Court to proceed with the multidimensional response that we’re advising.

“There is an extant injunction I am advised and that injunction is being reviewed with the guid ance of the attorney general and as we finalise a multidimensional response we will also ensure that we respect a separate branch of the government, we will make the appropriate appli cations to the Supreme Court.”

Asked if part of the appli cation would be permission to demolish illegal struc tures, Mr Sears replied: “First of all there is an existing injunction and an application can be made for variation, an applica tion can be made for the removal of the injunction. So, I cannot tell you pre cisely, but certainly we will respect the Supreme Court and make the appropriate application to facilitate the implementation of the multidimensional response.”

The injunction to which Mr Sears was referring was granted by Supreme Court Justice Cheryl GrantThompson in 2018. It banned demolition in New Providence and parts of Abaco.

However, it has been more than one year since the justice adjourned a judi cial review into whether demolition of the unreg ulated communities is unconstitutional.

In earlier remarks

yesterday, Mr Sears said a team under the purview of the Building Control Unit in his ministry was still working to determine demographics in shanty towns.

“Currently, what is hap pening now is we’re doing a survey of all of these irregu lar communities in terms of the number of structures, who are in these struc tures. We have Bahamians, we have persons who are undocumented and as I would have indicated when we were in Eleuthera with Blackwood, we have per sons on land owned by the commonage in the case of Blackwood and working for the commoners in Spanish Wells.

“We are pleased that we have the cooperation of the Commonage Commit tee, Mr Ivanhoe Sweeting accompanied us and we will be incorporating these pri vate partners as we design a comprehensive, multidimensional response.

“You have young people who by law must be in school and our public schools by law must accept them so it involves a number of factors and we have situations where per sons who are Bahamian and Bahamian enterprises, which employ persons in these communities these communities represent a danger to the residents because we are dealing with more frequent and more violent hurricanes.

“So it is a public health issue. It’s a public security issue.”

For his part, Mr Munroe pointed to issues with crime in the Turks and Caicos Islands, adding that if allowed to continue, The Bahamas could face the same issues as the British territory.

“In the deployment to Turks and Caicos they’re having great problems in these communities and so our officers are reporting back to us the potential for these communities,” he said.

“Bahamian people would have a legitimate expec tation that everyone will be treated equally and it’s the government’s job to see that that expectation is respected.”

Asked if this meant that more law enforce ment would be deployed to these areas, Mr Munroe said: “The matter is actively being considered with regard to how do we address people who have illegally built, who might have illegally occupied gov ernment property because if we tell one set of people that they can’t do it, then we definitely can’t let another set of persons do it.

“So, that is actively being considered across Abaco, Grand Bahama, Andros, Eleuthera and New Provi dence,” he said.

THE AFTERMATH of the fire at the shack.

Bahamas triathlon team off to CARIFTA

By BRENT STUBBS Senior Sports Reporter bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

After a twoyear hiatus, the Bahamas Triathlon Association is eager to send a national team off to compete in the fourth CARIFTA Triathlon.

A 22-member team, led by the husband/wife combo of team manager Lori Roach and head coach Cameron Roach, assisted by Sylvia Bateman with Grant Menzies and Barron ‘Turbo’ Musgrove as chap erones, left town yesterday for Bermuda where they will compete in the triath lon on Saturday and the aquathlon - a swim/run event - as well as the team relay.

The team members are Callum Prichard, Sibby Potter, Laluchan Men zies, Mirko Gervasini, Sienna Culmer-Mackey, Tristian Johnson, Barron Jr Musgrove, Jayden Smith, Lennin Hamilton, Taylor Knowles, Anjaleah Knowles, Issa Bournas, Kami Roach, Jason Cates, Enea Gervasini and Mal colm Menzies.

“I think we will place very well. We are taking our strongest team ever,” Cameron Roach said. “It’s the largest number as well as the strongest as a team. So I’m hoping that we will make podium – top three. That is our goal.

“At the last competition, we placed fifth overall, so anything above fifth is our goal. I’m looking for top three.”

After the event was delayed by about eight weeks, Roach said the association got a little more

time to put in the extra workout sessions to get the team prepared.

“At the same time, we were race ready and taper down to compete that weekend,” Roach recalled. “We had to revamp our schedule and work it up back up and taper down. But the kids are ready. Initially, it was a challenge mentally for them to refo cus, but I think everybody is in good spirits and they are excited to compete this weekend.

“I think we can look forward to some good outcomes.”

Originally, a total of 15 countries were expected to compete, but those num bers dropped to around 9-11.

The event returns after it was last held in Jamaica in 2019. The 2020 and 2021 editions were called off due to COVID-19.

Malcolm Menzies, com peting in the boys 13-15 age group, said it’s a good feeling to be representing

Major Jr wins opening match in the BLTA’s IC Junior Tennis Challenge

MICHAEL Major Jr, coming off his double championship victory at the FOCOL Junior Tennis Tournament held recently in Grand Bahama, won his opening match in the Bahamas Lawn Tennis Association’s IC Junior Tennis Challenge at the National Tennis Center.

The tournament is being played between players from the Bahamas, Canada and the United States of America.

Top seed Major Jr, a 16-year-old student of Windsor Academy at Albany, won his opening match yesterday against Edward Stan of Canada in set scores of 1-6, 6-2, 10-7.

Major Jr later teamed up with William McCart ney, but they lost 6-3, 0-6, 6-10 to the Canadian dup of Alec Anghel and Edward Stan in their doubles match.

In other results on the boys’ side, Anghel defeated McCartney 6-2, 6-0, Ameri can Stiles Brockett def.

Bahamian Jerald Carroll 6-1, 7-5 and American Jonah Hill def. Bahamian Jackson Mactaggart 6-0, 6-0.

In girls’ action, Cana dian Emma Tutoveanu def. Bahamian Sierra Rodg ers 6-0, 6-1, American

Clara

Tennis Tour Juniors Tour nament November 14-18.

the Bahamas at the championships.

“I am ready for the race since I have been wait ing to go for so long,” said Menzies, a 14-year-old student of Windsor High School at Albany. “I am positive that the team and I will do great.”

And Kami Roach, a 16-year-old student also of Windsor Albany High School, who will be com peting in the 16-19 age group, said she’s looking forward to her return to

the top regional junior competition, having com peted in the previous three.

“I have competed in every CARIFTA triathlon games since it has started,” she said. “I did just have foot surgery a couple months ago but I feel good and strong and I’m going to race my hardest.”

Roach said the team is very strong and she’s very excited to see how well everyone performs.

The team is scheduled to return home on Tuesday.

TEAM BAHAMAS NAMED FOR FIBA WORLD CUP 2023 QUALIFIERS

THE Bahamas Basket ball Federation has named its senior men’s national team roster for the fifth window for the FIBA Americas World Cup 2023 qualifiers this weekend.

The Bahamas will host Panama tonight at 8 pm and Argentina on November 13 at 7:15 pm at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

Moses Johnson returns as the head coach assisted by John-Marc Nutt.

The roster will be led by several veteran front court players, highlighted by David Nesbitt, Kino Burrows, Kadeem Coleby, and Dwight Coleby. Also in the frontcourt, Eugene Bain makes his return to the national team, as will LJ Munnings, who last made an appearance in 2019.

The backcourt includes Abaco natives Jaron Cor nish and Godfrey Rolle, national team veteran JR Cadot, Abel Joseph, and former University of The Bahamas product, Kemsey Sylvestre.

Johnson previously led The Bahamas to an 86-74 win over the US Virgin Islands in February in the second window of the qualifiers.

The Bahamas is currently sixth in Group E at 2-6. All results from the first round of qualifiers carry over to the second round.

In their last appearance, the team lost both games of the second round’s open ing window last August. The Bahamas lost 86-81 to Venezuela at the Kendal Isaacs Gym and lost 95-77 on the road to Argentina in Buenos Aries.

The sixth and final window will feature the second matchups against Venezuela (February 24, 2023) and Panama (Febru ary 27, 2023).

Denika Lightbourne commits to Dayton

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AS she heads into the final year of her stellar prep basketball career, Bahamas national team standout Denika Light bourne ended her sought after recruitment by com mitting to a Division I programme.

Lightbourne officially signed with the Daytona Flyers of the Atlantic-10 conference and will join head coach Tamika Wil liams-Jeter’s programme next fall.

The dynamic 5’10” guard out of Tallulah Falls High School in Geor gia, highlights the first recruiting class for Wil liams-Jeter to begin her coaching tenure with the Flyers.

Dayton finished 26-6, 14-1 in the Atlantic 10 in the 2021-22 season. They ended the year in the first round of the 2022 NCAA Tournament with a loss to the no. 6 seed Georgia Bulldogs.

as no.7 in the state polls.

An All-State selection, she scored 342 points, eighth on the single season total in school history.

6-1

Following the tourna ment. Major Jr will travel to Kingston, Jamaica to par ticipate in the ITF World

It’s the second leg of the tournament that got started with the first event this week.

The tournament is sched uled to end after today’s session which starts at 9am.

At the high school level, Lightbourne’s junior season was highlighted by leading TFS to its firstever regional title and first trip to the Elite Eight. They finished 15-5 overall and were ranked as high

She enters her senior season with 971 career points and with 433 rebounds, she could become just the second 1,000-point, 500-rebound member in school history.

At the international level, Lightbourne emerged as a rising star last summer when she

led the senior women’s national team to a third place finish at the 2022 CBC Championships.

She averaged 14.2 points, 3.6 rebounds and three steals per game.

Some of her top per formances included 17 points against Cuba and 16 points against The Dominican Republic and capped her run with 12 points, six rebounds, five steals and three assists in the bronze-medal game against Jamaica.

Zou def. Bahamian BreAnn Ferguson 6-0,

and American Shivanni Selvan def. Bahamian Saphirre Ferguson 6-0, 6-1.

TEAM BAHAMAS READY: Members of the national triathlon team can be seen before their departure at the Lynden Pindling International Airport yesterday morning.

A PROUD Michael Major Jr displays his awards won at the FOCOL tournament in Grand Bahama.

BAHAMAS national basketball team standout Denika Light bourne has officially signed with the Daytona Flyers of the Atlantic-10 conference.

Cayman Prep, St Andrew’s emerge as champions in LCIS KPMG Football Fest RESULTS

LYFORD Cay Inter national School (LCIS) hosted its 9th KPMG Foot ball Fest last weekend.

Cayman Prep (girls) and St Andrew’s (boys) emerged as the cham pions in the regional under-14 tournament that also included Cedar International School (British Virgin Islands), American International School of Kingston (Jamaica), Cayman High School (Cayman Islands), Cayman International School (Cayman Islands), Lucaya International School (Freeport), Wind sor School and the hosts, Lyford Cay International School.

This year, over 144 foot ballers played 32 matches of competitive football.

Craig Massey, the athletic director at LCIS, celebrated the huge turnout of teams and players, signifying the success and growth of the tournament over many years.

“After a hiatus of three years due to COVID-19, it was great to have such a large turnout of local and international teams. There are players and teams who return every year because of the high level of competition, as well as the hospitality of our community.

“All visiting students and coaches were hosted by

LCIS families, highlight ing the deep community involvement and intercul tural connection that goes into making this event a success.”

The competition cul minated on Saturday afternoon with four sets of finals - Bowl, Plate, Shield and Championship.

The Championship Final for the girls featured rivals

Cayman Prep and High School and Cayman Inter national School.

With the score tied 1-1 after regular time, Cayman Prep went on to win follow ing a sudden-death penalty shoot-out (3-1).

The Boys’ Champion ship Final was won by St Andrew’s International School who defeated the hosts Lyford Cay

International School 4-0 in a hotly contested final that displayed the high level of skill and sportsmanship of both teams. This was a reversal from the previous day’s round-robin match when the host team came away as the winner.

LCIS principal David Mindorff believes the tournament’s great est significance is the

transformative interna tional exposure it provides not just for LCIS students, but for all participating athletes.

“Events such as the KPMG Football Fest exemplify the truly trans formative experiences we provide at LCIS. We seek to create opportunities for our students to become more highly-skilled athletes

Boys’ Championship

Final: LCIS Yellow 0 - St. Andrew’s 4 Girls’ Championship Final: Cayman Interna tional 1 - Cayman Prep 1 (Winners on penalties)

Boys’ Shield Final: Cayman Prep 4Cayman International 0 Girls’ Shield Final: LCIS Yellow 1 - Cedar BVI 0

Boys’ Plate Final: AISK, Jamaica 2Cedar BVI 1 Girls’ Plate Final: Windsor School 1 - St. Andrews 0

Boys’ Bowl Final: LCIS Blue 1 - Lucaya Int. Freeport 1 (Winners on Penalties)

Girls’ Bowl Final: Lucaya Int. Freeport 1LCIS Blue 0

as well as internationallyminded, global citizens.” Incredible support was provided by KPMG Baha mas who has served as the event’s main sponsor from its inception.

OMG Bakery, Bahamas Wholesale Agencies and Thompson Trading also contributed to the event, providing lunches and drinks throughout the weekend for athletes and coaches.

OPTIMIST NORTH AMERICAN SAILING CHAMPIONSHIPS IN NASSAU NEXT WEEK

THE Optimist North American Championship (OPTINAM) is a large, high profile junior sailing event hosted annually at different locations around the North Americas and Caribbean.

This year, for the second time, it is being hosted here in Nassau at The Nassau Yacht Club with sailing in Montagu Bay next week.

A total of 20 countries are represented, with teams travelling from as far away as Chile, Argentina,

Canada, Bermuda, Sweden, Germany and Switzerland.

The 155 young athletes, who represent the world’s top sailors aged 15 and under, have been arriving since last Sunday, eager to commence training on Bahamian waters.

The strong winds of Hurricane Nicole have pro duced some challenges to training schedules and flight arrivals, but will not signifi cantly impact the event, as the first day of racing is not until Tuesday, November

15. Team Bahamas com prises 19 sailors (five girls and 14 boys), 12 of whom train with the New Provi dence clubs and or National Sailing School, two join the team from Exuma Sailing Club and five are from the Eleuthera Sailing Academy.

A national ranking system during the year based on results from four championship events deter mined the qualifying sailors for inclusion on the team.

The impressive open ing ceremony takes place

ENGLAND CRUSHES INDIA TO REACH T20 WORLD CUP FINAL

By CHETAN NARULA Associated Press

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP) — England rolled over India in a 10-wicket win yesterday and set up a T20 World Cup final against Pakistan.

Set 169 to win, Eng land reached its target with four overs to spare as openers Alex Hales (86 not out) and Jos Buttler (80 not out) obliterated India’s bowlers.

They silenced the 40,000-strong pro-India crowd by scoring 170 runs off 96 deliveries. Theirs was the highest England opening stand in Twenty20 cricket, and the high est opening stand in all T20 World Cups. “It was almost a perfect innings,” Hales said. “It is as special as it gets.”

Hales’ 86 came off 47 balls, and Buttler’s 80 off 49.

This was after leg spinner Adil Rashid’s four-over spell of 1-20 helped to restrict India to a respectable 168-6. Chris Jordan finished with 3-43.

Hardik Pandya’s 63 off 33 went in vain.

The final is on Sunday in Melbourne.

Pakistan downed New Zealand on Wednesday.

England will be seeking its second T20 world title, after 2010. Pakistan’s only title came a year earlier at Lord’s.

“Pretty disappointed,” India captain Rohit Sharma said.

“We didn’t turn up with the ball. We did get runs at the back end but we were nervous at the start. We have to give credit to their openers. They played really well.”

Put in to bat, India got off to a stutter. Lokesh Rahul was out caught behind for 5. Sharma

endured hardship to put bat on ball. His painstak ing 27 off 28 balls included four boundaries. He finally holed out off Jordan.

India managed only 38-1 in the powerplay. Sharma’s dismissal made it 56-2 inside nine overs.

The turning point came when Suryakumar Yadav was out caught off Rashid in the 12th over. He scored 14 off 10 balls.

Virat Kohli soldiered on and held one end together. He notched his fourth half-century in six innings at this T20 World Cup, reaching the mark off 39 balls. He put on a cru cial 61 runs for the fourth wicket with Pandya.

After Kohli was dis missed, Pandya blitzed England and India scored 47 runs in the last three overs. Pandya hit four fours and five sixes, reach ing his half-century off only 29 balls.

on Monday, November 14 commencing with a parade of nations headed up by the Royal Bahamas Police Force Band from Fort Montagu to the Nassau Yacht Club. This will be fol lowed by a performance by the band and an opening ceremony and dinner for the sailors, their entourage and special invited guests.

V.I.Ps include repre sentatives from the many sponsors of the champion ship, without whom the event would simply not be possible to host.

The organising commit tee wishes to thank RBC Bank, Ministry of Youth, Sports and Culture, Minis try of Tourism and Ministry of Agriculture and Marine Resources for their tre mendous support. Other corporate donors include

Commonwealth Bank, Legend Yacht Transport, NUA, Callendars Reality and BBD all of whom will have their corporate logos displayed on the boat fleets next week.

Goods and services to aid the smooth and efficient running of this prestigious international event have been provided by Bahama Blu, Sports Center, Home Fabrics and Harken Derm, to name just a few.

Teams are being accom modated at Atlantis resort and will be bussed to and from The Nassau Yacht Club each day by Bahamas Experience Tours.

The Yacht Club will be providing breakfast, lunch and dinner each day.

International judges and officials have flown in from all corners of the world

and will be supported by a large team of local volun teers to assist on land and out on the water with all the many aspects of running this important event like clockwork.

Not only a sporting acco lade for The Bahamas to have been invited once again to host OPTINAM, this major international event is of significant impact on the promotion of the country to a large international audience as a holiday destination and sporting venue. Watch out for the action in Montagu Bay in the coming days.

The final race day is Sat urday, November 19. For more information check out the Optimist North Ameri can Championship 2022 on Facebook and Instagram.

ST Andrew’s (boys) emerged as the champions in the regional under-14 tournament.

THE CHAMPIONSHIP Final for the girls featured rivals Cayman Prep and Cayman International School (above).

THE Optimist North American Championship (OPTINAM) will be hosted here at The Nassau Yacht Club with sailing in Montagu Bay on November 15.

McCoy, McFall in NCAA Division II basketball season tip-off today

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

THE NCAA Divi sion II NCAA basketball season tips off today and a pair of veteran Bahamian prospects look to build on their productive 2021-22 seasons.

Both Malachi McCoy (Benedict Tigers) and Johnathan McFall (Slip pery Rock) will make the season debuts for their respective programmes in the season opener.

McCoy and the Tigers will host Florida Tech 7:30pm tonight at the HRC Arena in Columbia, South Carolina.

The Tigers were picked to finish second in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference East Division.

Last season, Benedict finished 22-7 overall record (14-3 SIAC record) and earned a berth in the 2022 SIAC Championship game.

Expectations loom large for the 6’5” senior follow ing a breakout campaign that was filled with career highs. He averaged 10.9 points and a team-leading 8.9 rebounds per game. He also led the team with 41 blocked shots.

As a freshman he aver aged 7.3 points and 4.7 rebounds per game and last year, in the COVID-19 shortened season, he aver aged just 5.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

The Berry Islands native said he has seen the team continue to grow over the course of the last three sea sons he has been with the programme. “I’ve grown, I’ve seen the team grow.

MALACHI McCoy JOHNATHAN McFall

When I came here we were a 14 win team,” McCoy said. “To go from that to 22 wins, I think it’s pretty good.”

McFall and Slippery Rock will open the season hosting Alderson Broad dus at Morrow Field House in Spippery Rock,

Slippery Rock has reached the PSAC Tournament in 10 of the last 11 seasons in which the postseason tour nament has been held.

Slippery Rock is coming off a 2021-22 season in which it went 17-12 over all and 13-9 in the PSAC West while earning a con ference tournament bid in the first round of the PSAC tournament.

McFall scored 14 in the season finale. In his first season with SRU he averaged 13 points, 4.9 rebounds, 1.1 steals and one block per game. He also shot 52 percent from the field and 83 percent from the free throw line.

McFall transferred to SRU after a year with Chowan and after a twoyear stint with Catawba Valley Community College Red Hawks.

BRITAIN, AUSTRALIA INTO BILLIE JEAN KING CUP SEMIS

GLASGOW, Scotland (AP) — Britain pulled off an unlikely 3-0 victory over Spain in the Billie Jean King Cup yesterday to reach the semifinals of the top team event in women’s tennis for the first time in 41 years.

Australia also reached the last four in Glasgow, but the story of the day was Britain’s remarkable comeback to win Group C — sealed by a victory by a rookie doubles pairing.

Alicia Barnett and Olivia Nicholls were late call-ups following Emma Raducanu’s withdrawal and had not been in any thing remotely like this situation before. Still, they shrugged off the pressure of a winner-takes-all dou bles match against Aliona Bolsova and Rebeka Masa rova to win 7-6 (5), 6-2.

That backed up ear lier wins in the singles by Heather Watson and Harriet Dart over much higher-ranked opponents. Hart was in tears after stunning 13th-ranked Paula Badosa in a 6-3, 6-4 victory, despite a ranking gap of 85 places.

“It’s so awesome being here in Britain and being able to host this event,” Dart said. “I’m just so happy to keep this one alive.”

In the first match, Watson was excellent in a 6-0, 6-2 win against Nuria Parrizas Diaz.

Britain arguably should not even be in the 12-team

tournament, having lost a qualifier to the Czech Republic in April. The team was given a wild-card entry when Britain stepped in to host the event at the Emirates Arena and made the most of it by sweeping the five-time champions two days after a loss to Kazakhstan.

Earlier, Australia became the first nation to reach the semifinals by beating Belgium 3-0 for a second group win.

Storm Sand ers beat Alison van Uytvanck 6-2, 6-2 while

Ajla

6-4, 3-0.

Australia, which also triumphed in the doubles, had already beaten Slova kia on Tuesday in Group B.

Belgium played its two matches before the Czech Republic, who had two players at the WTA Finals last week, contested its first in Group D.

That drew criticism from Belgium captain Johan Van Herck. “We were not

helped by the situation,” he said.

“What happened with Elise, I don’t think it’s very correct. It had a huge impact on what we had to go through here, especially Elise now with an injury.

“So it’s something where I think we, as a small coun try, have to pay a price for not being the Czech Republic that starts today or the United States that can play in the evening.”

The Czechs defeated Poland 2-1 and will play the U.S. for a place in the semifinals.

Shamar Burrows and Tigers nationally ranked at No. 10

By RENALDO DORSETT Tribune Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

AFTER the first two weeks of the season, Shamar Burrows and the Dal housie Tigers are nationally ranked at no.10 in Canada’s U Sports men’s bas ketball power rankings.

The Tigers improved to 3-1 on the season after they split a pair with the St. Mary’s Huskies last weekend and Burrows recorded his first double double of the season.

In game one, Burrows finished with 14 points on 6-11 shooting from the field and added seven rebounds, but the Tigers suffered their first loss of the season 95-87.

In game two, he finished with 10 points and a game high 11 rebounds in a dominant 94-60 win.

The Tigers began the game on a 12-2 run, but the Huskies responded on a 12-3 run of their own and eventu ally led 19-17 at the end of the first.

Dalhousie dominated over the course of the next two quarters when they outscored the Huskies 29-17 and 32-12 to take control for good.

Burrows is averaging 11.5 points and a team-leading eight rebounds per game thus far this season.

KUZMA LEADS SHORT-HANDED WIZARDS PAST MAVERICKS 113-105

WASHINGTON (AP) — Kyle Kuzma scored 36 points, and the Washing ton Wizards overcame the absence of Bradley Beal and Kristaps Porzingis to beat the Dallas Mavericks 113-105 last night.

Rui Hachimura added 23 points for Washington, which was missing Beal because of health and safety protocols and Porzin gis because of a left groin strain. The Wizards fell behind 22-8 but quickly ral lied and eventually pulled away thanks to a trio of 3-pointers by Kuzma early in the fourth.

Spencer Dinwiddie, who went to Dallas in the trade that sent Porzingis to Wash ington, led the Mavericks with 33 points, and Luka Doncic contributed 22.

HEAT 117, HORNETS 112, OT MIAMI (AP) — Jimmy Butler scored 35 points, and Miami wasted a 15-point lead before rallying and sending Charlotte to its sev enth consecutive loss.

Butler also had 10 rebounds and eight assists for Miami. Bam Ade bayo scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, while Max Strus and Gabe Vin cent each had 12 points for the Heat.

Kelly Oubre Jr scored 29 points for Charlotte, which got 22 from Terry Rozier and 16 from Jaden McDaniels.

HAWKS 104, 76ERS 95

ATLANTA (AP) — Trae Young scored 26 points, Clint Capela added 18 points and 20 rebounds and Atlanta pulled away late in the third period to beat Philadelphia.

Joel Embiid led Phila delphia with 26 points and 13 rebounds for his second straight double-double after missing three games with the flu.

Young and Capela each had two baskets in Atlanta’s 12-0 run to close the third quarter. The Hawks led by only two points before taking an 80-66 advantage into the final period.

TRAIL BLAZERS 106, PELICANS 95

It’s the same scenario for Canada after beating Italy 3-0 in Group A to set up a winner-takes-all match against Switzerland on Friday.

Bianca Andreescu defeated Elisabetta Coc ciaretto 7-6 (3), 6-3. Leylah Fernandez defeated Mar tina Trevisan 6-0, 6-0.

Gabriela Dabrowski joined Fernandez to win the doubles for Canada 6-1, 6-1 against Jasmine Paolini and Lucia Bronzetti.

Switzerland beat Italy 3-0 in the group opener on Wednesday.

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jerami Grant scored 27 points and the Portland Trail Blazers overcame the absence of star guard Damian Lillard to defeat the New Orleans Pelicans 106-95.

Anfernee Simmons hit five 3s and scored 23 points for Portland, which improved to 6-1 on the road. Former Pelican Josh Hart added 17 points for the Blazers.

The Blazers, who won at Charlotte a night ear lier, rested Lillard, who’d recently missed four games with a right calf strain.

PANTHERS TOP FALCONS 25-15

By STEVE REED AP Sports Writer

CHARLOTTE, N.C.

Final 8. In three Final Eight games, Burrows averaged 12.3 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

The Dalhousie Gazette profiled Burrows’ emergence in a leadership role with the programme following the departure of its two leading scor ers from last season.

He credited head coach Rick Plato’s free flowing offence for a breakout junior season.

“Coach Plato [gave] me more leeway to play the game that I like to play,” Burrows said. “Being a vet eran and coming to understanding the plays more, understanding how systems work, the defensive scheme, it gave me the opportunity to actually blossom.”

Plato said Burrows has the tools to step into that leadership role as the team seeks another AUS title.

(AP) — D’Onta Foreman carried 31 times for 130 yards and a touchdown, Laviska Shenault added a 41-yard burst to the end zone and the Caro lina Panthers beat the Atlanta Falcons 25-15 on a rainy Thursday night.

The Panthers (3-7) piled up a sea son-high 232 yards on the ground, and Eddy Pineiro kicked four field goals after he missed two critical kicks in a 37-34 overtime loss to the Fal cons 11 days earlier.

Rhule was fired and replaced on an interim basis by Steve Wilks.

Foreman, who ran for 118 yards and three TDs in the last meeting on October 30 in Atlanta, capped off a crucial sevenplay, 84-yard drive with a 12-yard touchdown run off right tackle to give Carolina a 19-9 lead with 1:51 left in the third quarter. The Falcons cut Carolina’s lead to 22-15 when Mariota found a wide-open KhaDarel Hodge for a 25-yard touchdown with 3:01 left in the game after the Panthers botched a coverage assignment.

SHAMAR BURROWS

The 2021-22 defending champion Carleton Ravens open the season at No. 1 in the poll.

The Tigers concluded their 2021-22 season with a fifth place finish over all at the U Sports Men’s Basketball

“With the loss of our key seniors [Keevan Veinot and Alex Carson], he’s [Burrows] going to have to step up,” Plato said. “Shamar is not small. He’s built like a brick shed house and he’s one of the strongest guys on the team. He’s one of our better rebound ers and there’s not a stronger guard in the league than him. As a fifth-year experienced guard, he can post guys up, he can take guys to the basket.”

Marcus Mariota finished 19 of 30 for 186 yards and two touchdowns, but was sacked five times and intercepted once.

Atlanta fell to 4-6, leav ing Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers (4-5) alone atop the NFC South. The Bucs play Sunday against the Seattle Seahawks in Munich, Ger many. Carolina improved to 2-3 since coach Matt

Younghoe Koo, who had made 71 straight extra points, missed his second PAT of the game to keep the margin at seven points.

The Falcons got one last shot to tie the game, taking over at their own 34 with 2 1/2 minutes to play. But Carolina’s Marquis Haynes sacked Mariota twice and the Fal cons turned the ball over on downs at their 15.

Pennsylvania. SRU was picked to finish fifth in the Pennsylvania State Ath letic Conference Western Division this season in the preseason coaches poll.

The top six teams from each division at the end of the regular season qualify for the PSAC Tournament.

Tomljanovic’s victory was sealed when her oppo nent, Elise Mertens, had to retire because of a shoul der injury when trailing 4-6,

GREAT Britain’s tennis team celebrates after winning a match against Aliona Bolsova and Rebeka Masarova of Spain, on the third day of the Billie Jean King Cup finals at Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, yesterday. (AP Photo/Kin Cheung)

FOREMAN

BAHAMAS Road masters Running Club (BRRC) is busily making final preparations to stage its 10th Annual Bahamas Half Race Series. Leading a list of notable sponsors is the renowned US-based health care provider, Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA).

Founded in 1998, CTCA through its treatment cent ers located in Atlanta, Chicago and Phoenix has provided top level cancer care to hundreds of Baha mian patients. They also give back to local com munities by generously supporting many local NGOs. Demonstrating their commitment as a benefactor to Bahamas Roadmasters, CTCA is a platinum sponsor of the 2022 Bahamas Half race series on November 20.

“We are exceedingly grateful to all our corporate sponsors for their contin ued support. In particular CTCA who has consistently partnered with BRRC, enabling us to successfully stage our two signature events, Bahamas Half and Midnight Madness Fun Run/Walk’’, said Anastasia Turnquest, president of the BRRC.

Presenting on behalf of CTCA was its local repre sentative Tina Lightbourne who said: “In the communities we serve, we’re “Compassion ate” and ‘’Responsive’’ meaning, we genuinely care about their health and wel fare, and we respond by supporting the local NGOs who are on the ground servicing those needs. It’s ingrained in CTCA’s Core Values”. She added, “Like Cancer Treatment Cent ers of America, Bahamas Roadmasters promotes good health and wellness and we’re happy to be a part of that.”

Following a two-year disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual road race which draws hundreds of local and international running and walking enthusiasts will return as an ‘’in-person’’ event this year.

Race time is 6am start ing from Junkanoo Beach, The Western Esplanade and travels west along Bay Street toward Cable Beach.

The half marathon (13.1 miles) will turn around near Sun Fun Resort, the 10K (6.2 miles) turns near Baha Mar Boulevard and 5K turns near Go-Slow Bend.

The 5k and 10K are walker friendly events.

For the Half Marathon, runners have registered from as far away as Africa and Ireland.

Said Tony Longley, public relations officer: “Thanks to our sponsors, we’re staging a world-class professionally timed race with attractive cash prizes and giveaways. The overall male and female half marathon win ners will each receive $2,500, 2nd Place, $1,500, 3rd Place, $500 and the first male and female Bahamian permanent resident will each be awarded $250.

Also, the top three fin ishers in each age category will receive trophies and all finishers in every event will get the beautiful commem orative 10th anniversary medal. Additional sponsors include: Caribbean Bot tling Company; Ministry of Tourism; Bahamas Weld ing & Fire; Cabinet World; Carpet World; Colina; FYP Building Supplies; Insur ance Co. of The Bahamas; Lignum Advisors; Suntee; Summit Insurance; Veritas and other donors.

“It’s through their col lective generosity that we are anticipating a fantastic

event and possibly some personal records to be set in all races,” Longley added.

Part proceeds from this year’s race will be donated to Families of Murdered All Murdered Victims (F.O.A.M.) headed by Candy Gibson and Way of Life Organisation, led by William Lunn.

Founded in 1990, Baha mas Roadmasters Running Club is the premier ath letic club in The Bahamas dedicated to promoting a healthy and wholesome lifestyle through the sport of long-distance running.

Members train weekly

to prepare for local and international races includ ing marathons and half marathons.

For more information, contact BRRC C/0 email address: bahamasroadmas ters@gmail.com and via Facebook: Bahamas Road Masters.

Registration can be done in-person daily at Lignum Advisors, Union Court (Elizabeth Ave, & Shirley St.) and on Saturdays at The Sports Center, Harbour Bay Plaza and Cable Beach from 10:30am to 4:30pm or online, website: www.baha mashalf242.com

THE BAHAMAS Roadmasters Running Club’s 10th Annual Bahamas Half Race Series is all set for Sunday, November 20.

$73M ‘ZERO CARBON’ PROJECT TARGETS 36K ANNUAL VISITORS

during operations by uti lising electric golf carts, restriction of single-use plas tics, significant way-finding signage to ensure guests remain on gravel roads or established trails, and abun dant waste and recycling receptacles reducing poten tial litter.”

Research by Tribune Busi ness revealed that the Ki’ama Bahamas development is a joint venture between three entities who have formed Ecoisland Development. They are Mauritius-head quartered Silent Resorts, billed as “the world’s first integrated land/sea, ultrasustainable, private, secure, 100 percent solar-powered, luxury and adventure brand”, together with Equity Residences, a real estate investment fund, and Elite Alliance, a residence club owner.

Silent Resorts, whose chief executive and founder, Victor Barrett, appears to be the Elizabeth Island project lead, states on its website that it has selected Exuma

and The Bahamas to host the prototype for its “new model of sustainable devel opment” that includes fully solar-powered yachts.

Touting their experience, the three project partners say they have collectively “facilitated the development and financing of more than 35 real estate projects, raised and deployed in excess of $800m into real estate offer ings and generated in excess of $1bn in real estate sales”.

The development was ref erenced recently by Chester Cooper, deputy prime min ister, who has responsibility for investments, during the recent Exuma Business Out look conference when he said: “On Elizabeth Island, there is a unique zero carbon integrated residential resort and yacht community over 35 acres.” The developer, he added, plans to build 28 “low impact”, solar powered residences varying in size from three bedrooms to six bedrooms.

The disclosure of Ki’ama Bahamas EIA, ahead of a November 29, 2022, public consultation on the

document and wider pro ject shows it is now ready to apply for - and obtain - the Certificate of Environmental Clearance (CEC) required from the Department of Environmental Planning and Protection (DEPP).

The report confirms that the developers plan to con struct between 22 to 28 solar powered residences, which will have shared and individual ownership, via “carbon negative” building techniques that will use hard wood timber and bamboo derived from “sustainable resources”. A beach club, including a fitness centre and restaurant/bar area, will also be developed and there is to be no dredging of the marine environment.

While the EIA veers between different job crea tion figures, promising 80-85 full-time posts upfront and 45 to 60 construction jobs, only to reduce the former to “up to 50” two pages later, this could just reflect the variation between direct and indirect employment that is spurred.

Promising that only 18 percent of the property will be developed, and that more than 80 percent will retain its existing natural vegetation,

the EIA said: “The exist ing project design and engineering team is entirely Bahamian and spans multi ple firms and disciplines.

“Given the advanced sus tainability of the project, the development team antici pates significant training opportunities for Bahamian talent in the fields of modu lar construction, solar power, desalination, water puri fication and electric boat operation and maintenance. These advancements are at the forefront of hospital ity development trends and demand for these skills is only set to increase.....

“Such a scale of invest ment is expected to contribute to the revitalisa tion of the Exumas as one of the world’s top touristic destinations as a place for vacation, but also a conduit for economic growth and development. The project with its investment of some $73m is expected to generate much need economic stimu lus for the Exumas. The project benefits far outweigh any limited unavoidable neg ative environmental impact identified.”

Ki’ama Bahamas sits squarely within the bounda ries of the Mariah Harbour

Cay National Park. The EIA discloses that the develop ers presented their proposal to the Bahamas National Trust (BNT) on August 8, 2022, since its backing is vital given the location.

The Trust was described as “supportive of the pro ject”, although the attached October 18, 2022, letter by its executive director, Eric Carey, stopped short of being an unconditional endorsement. “If the devel oper adheres to the design as presented, the resort as proposed may be compatible with the management objec tives of the Mariah Harbour Cay National Park,” he wrote.

“If your stated devel opment objectives are achieved, and the sustain able standards maintained, it is not inconceivable that Ki’ama Resorts could indeed serve as a replicable model for development within, adjacent or within close proximity to national parks.”

Mr Carey said the devel opers would need to obtain the Trust’s permission for any activities that could impact the marine envi ronment around Elizabeth Island, since it manages the waters, while they would

also have to obtain permits from it and the DEPP for any research or environ mental monitoring that is conducted. The Trust chief executive also promised that it will review and comment on the EIA.

The developers, mean while, pledged in the EIA: “The project anticipates providing up to $1.2Mm in funding to Silent Catch, a non-profit organisation focused on advancing sus tainable fishing practices that is to be headquartered in the Bahamas. The phase one start-up funding of Silent Catch will be $150,000.00.

“The organisation will empower and train the local artisanal fishing community and local organisations to implement electric motors and solar charging, thereby reducing the cost of local fishing and environmen tally harmful externalities inherent to the practice. For example, this organisation could work alongside the Bahamas National Trust team representing the Mariah Harbour Cay National Park (MHCNP) to benefit the local fishing fleet in the area.”

crypto exchange’s predica ment if it is to avoid any lasting damage to its finan cial brand, integrity and reputation.

“This was designed to grow the crypto indus try and also the financial services, which has been declining,” he added of the country’s digital assets strat egy. “It’s a very volatile type of business, tokens can be withdrawn or lose value in a matter of seconds. We need to look at various types of business that present less risk and volatility for us going forward.

“Crypto issues can happen in a minute. Yet

it’s one of the things that can assist us and it’s here to stay. But it’s not something we want to build the whole financial services recovery on. If we didn’t know that before, we realise it now.”

The Davis administra tion has made much of The Bahamas’ flagship digital assets regulatory regime, headed by the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act, and used it to promote this jurisdiction in a bid to attract compliant, well-regulated operators to domicile here and grow their businesses. Until this week, FTX was the flag ship investment that was being employed to attract others, such as fellow crypto exchange, OKX.

“I think one can say we have a very good regula tory system,” Mr Christie added. “This crypto event may not have happened here before, but we’ve had any number of issues with companies that we’ve had to respond to. Right now we’re not seeing so much focus on The Bahamas, but that’s something we have to pre pare for. We have the ability to investigate ourselves.”

FTX, while domiciled in Antigua and Barbuda, is headquartered in The Bahamas so much global attention will now be focused here - especially since the local registrant, FTX Digital Markets, has been placed into provisional liquidation. “I would not deny that this is something that is going to rattle the cage further with compa nies coming in,” Mr Christie said of the Securities Com mission’s response to FTX’s fate.

“I think definitely we may have to subject them to increased scrutiny, and they may be increased require ments for audits of their assets to confirm they have what they say they have before they come in. Some more due diligence may be done as part of the require ment to be licensed. It’s a bit of a lesson learned, but I don’t think we have to respond to every bit of criti cism that comes in.

careful in our response and let the regulators work with the SEC. These kind of things happen, but in the crypto world they happen very fast. I would not say this does not create a little friction in the way we move ahead, but I don’t see it as something that is linked to our country or that we had a part in this.”

Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire FTX founder, issued a series of rambling Twitter tweets yes terday morning that verged between a ‘mea culpa’ and acceptance of full respon sibility for the debacle together with promising that he was still working on a bail-out plan to cover the $8bn funding shortfall.

However, his explanation was likely to have further unnerved crypto investors and the wider market, as he admitted to miscalculat ing both the level of debt (leverage) obtained from the exchange by FTX cli ents and its ability to meet withdrawals (liquidity). Effectively, Mr BankmanFried admitted to have been asleep at the wheel or not minding the shop as the crisis enveloping his company developed - some thing that is hardly likely to restore confidence in him and FTX.

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“I think we can point to one of the best regulatory systems in the world, and the legislation we have, and just attract more quality business and ensure we do proper due diligence. I’m sure at the moment that the Securities Commission is going to be very mindful of any new licensees, and also exchanges, that come here as a result of this shake up. I think there will be increased regulation, especially in the short-term, around these companies.”

For The Bahamas, Mr Christie said much now depends on how it deals with the FTX collapse from here. “I wouldn’t classify it as major damage should we handle the situation appro priately,” he added. “I’m sure the regulators were aware of this and work ing with the US Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC) should a liquidation take place.

“It’s certainly trouble some. It’s something we cannot ignore. It’s not going to go away right now. We certainly need to go into damage control, be very

“I’m sorry. That’s the biggest thing,” Mr Bank man-Fried wrote. “The full story here is one I’m still fleshing out every detail of, but as a very high level, I f***** up twice.”

Due to “poor internal labelling of bank-related accounts”, he said he “was substantially off” in his cal culations of the sums the exchange had leant out to users to let them make lev eraged bets – borrowing money to trade with, mag nifying potential gains and losses.

That meant that he thought FTX had enough money on hand to pay out 24 times the normal daily withdrawals, but it did not have enough to even pay out all the withdrawals on Sunday alone. “We saw roughly $5bn of withdrawals on Sunday – the largest by a huge margin,” he added.

But Mr Bankman-Fried said that while FTX was suf fering a liquidity crunch, it was not insolvent and still held more assets than the total value of all the cus tomer deposits – albeit in a form that could not be easily converted to cash.

NOTICE is hereby given that GEORGE THYKKUTTATHIL ISAC of #20 Seafan Drive, Sea Breeze Estates P.O Box N-193, Nassau, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written

signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 11th day of November, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O. Box N-7147, Nassau, Bahamas.

The Securities Commis sion, in a statement, said it had been left with little choice to act given that FTX’s international business was seemingly on the verge of bankruptcy amid allega tions that client monies have been misused. “The Com mission is aware of public statements suggesting that clients’ assets were mis handled, mismanaged and/ or transferred to Alameda Research,” it added, the latter being a company con trolled by FTX founder, Sam Bankman-Fried.

“Based on the Commis sion’s information, any such actions would have been contrary to normal govern ance without client consent, and potentially unlawful.”

The provisional liquidation, besides seeking to protect clients and investors, is also a means to safeguard The Bahamas’ integrity and reputation. While domiciled in Antigua and Barbuda, FTX is headquartered in The Bahamas, and thus this nation must lead the regula tory charge over its woes.

Neither Christina Rolle, the Securities Commission’s executive director, nor Mr Simms, could be reached for comment before press time last night. The latter was said to be working fever ishly to protect client and FTX assets, including the latter’s multiple New Provi dence real estate holdings, by quickly gaining control of the crypto exchange’s local bank accounts, offices and all documents and files.

Multiple sources, though, told Tribune Business that Mr Simms will be working on the provisional liquida tion - which is highly likely to become an official full winding-up overseen by the Supreme Court - in partner ship with one of the so-called ‘Big Four’ accounting firms - PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), EY (Ernst & Young), Deloitte & Touche and KPMG.

This newspaper was told some hours before the Securities Commission announced the provisional

liquidator’s appointment that PwC was the likely front-runner to work on the FTX matter, with EY a close second.

Several sources, though, voiced surprise that an attor ney had been appointed as FTX Digital Markets’ pro visional liquidator, even though Bahamian law allows this via the Companies Winding-Up Act and sub sequent reforms to this law.

Qualified accountants are normally the ones chosen as liquidators, with attorneys hired to provide them with legal guidance and advice.

Tribune Business, though, understands that checks and due diligence is being con ducted to determine of any of the ‘Big Four’ firms are potentially “conflicted” - and thus prevented from acting in the FTX Digital Markets provisional liquidation - by virtue of having worked for the company, its affiliates or founder Sam BankmanFried in The Bahamas or elsewhere in the world.

Once these checks are completed, and the account ing firm selected, it was suggested they may swap roles with Mr Simms. The latter would become legal adviser to the provi sional liquidation, and an accountant the provisional liquidator, with Mr Simms’ appointment necessitated by the urgency to freeze FTX’s operations while the due dil igence checks are completed.

Valdez Russell, FTX Digi tal Markets’ vice-president of communications, last night told Tribune Busi ness its 50-60 local staff were still employed by the company and pledged they would all co-operate with the provisional liquidator to protect The Bahamas’ brand name and integrity.

“We continue with busi ness in the best possible way given the circumstances,” Mr Russell said of the employ ees, whose future with FTX is increasingly uncertain. “These individuals remain engaged and employed with FTX. Within the scope of Bahamian law, and individu als in the country who want to see this situation resolved,

we will remain co-operative. The Bahamas deserves that as a compliant and well-reg ulated jurisdiction.”

He predicted that while FTX’s international opera tions may eventually emerge from the provisional liqui dation process, they were unlikely to be in the same form. “Our focus has been doing right for, to and by Bahamians,” he added of his local colleagues. “I think that the iteration of FTX globally will look different, but we have to do right for our clients, our investors and our industry. That remains at the core in all regards.

“The Securities Commis sion of The Bahamas has acted swiftly to demonstrate the importance of their role in maintaining the integrity and jurisdictional reputation of The Bahamas. As FTX strives to do right for custom ers, investors and employees, the involvement of a provi sional liquidator will prove helpful in a process that facilitates the requisite due diligence that will contribute to a better future for digital assets in a global landscape.”

Meanwhile, Tribune Busi ness was shown a report, which checks confirmed was genuine and had been well-researched, disclosing that FTX has acquired some $74.23m in west New Provi dence real estate during 2022 alone. Most of these purchases involved prop erty in the high-end Albany community, along with the acquisition of units in the Veridian Corporate Centre, which was developed by Island Luck gaming tycoon, Sebas Bastian.

The acquisitions by FTX Property Holdings, the crypto exchange’s real estate arm, ranged in value from a high of $30m to $8.9m, $7.479m, $7.311m, $7m and

$6.75m at Albany, accord ing to the report, which was being widely circulated on social media. Some $4.5m was also spent to acquire the Bayside Executive Park site for its planned $60m headquarters, which is now unlikely to proceed, but sits directly across from Mr Simms’ offices at Lennox Paton.

The report also showed a $2.29m purchase at the Veridian Corporate Centre. “The corporate offices for FTX are currently housed at the Veridian Corporate Centre, which was originally built and sold by Sebas Bas tian,” the document said. “These are not rentals or leases. FTX has purchased these units outright.

“Additionally, there is one purchase of a condominium at One Cable Beach for $2m made by Sam BankmanFried directly in late 2021.” It is unclear whether the latter, especially given that it is in the FTX founder’s name, will be included in the provisional liquidation. The same applies to the FTX Property Holdings assets, although this entity is likely to be affiliated with FTX Digital Markets and there fore be covered.

The real estate figures, though, show just how large and impactful a pres ence FTX has been in the Bahamian economy since it switched its headquarters from Hong Kong to The Bahamas in late 2021 shortly after the September general election. The company’s rapid descent, and plunge, into provisional liquidation means a major source of investment and donations to non-profits and charities has suddenly been stripped from the economy.

Justifying its actions, the Securities Commission said:

“Since the unfolding of events involving FTX Digi tal Markets, the Commission has proactively dealt with the situation and continues to do so. The Commission determined that the prudent course of action was to put FTX Digital Markets into provisional liquidation to preserve assets and stabilise the company.

“The Commission is com mitted to working with the provisional liquidator to endeavour to obtain the best possible outcome for the customers and other stake holders of FTX.”

The Securities Com mission action came after another frenetic day in which Mr Bankman-Fried sought to find new saviours after rival crypto exchange, Binance, pulled out of a rescue deal for beleaguered FTX on Wednesday. Inter national reports pegged the liquidity and funding short fall that FTX and its founder have to bridge at up to $8bn

as they seek new emergency financing.

Time may have run out, though, as a result of The Bahamas’ provisional liq uidation. Major investors also wrote-off their entire investment in FTX, saying the crypto exchange is now essentially worthless, with Sequoia Capital, a Silicon Valley-based private equity fund, wiping out its $214m holding in the company.

Meanwhile, the SEC and US Justice Depart ment probes are said to be focusing on whether Mr Bankman-Fried and FTX used customers’ depos its to fund bets and trading activities at his hedge fund, Alameda Research. Client funds are supposed to be kept separate from com pany assets, and there were suggestions the FTX founder has committed the “ultimate sin” by tapping into FTX’s custodial assets to fund Alameda Research.

L i v e I n H o u s e k e e p e r W

a n t e d

S e e k i n g e x c e p t i o n a l a n d q u a l i f i e d t a l e n t t o a s s i s t i n t h e m a n a g e m e n t o f t y p i c a l h o u s e h o l d d u t i e s , s u c h a s c o o k i n g a n d c l e a n i n g w i t h a d d i t i o n a l p e r s o n a l c a r e o f a c h i l d r e s i d i n g f u l l t i m e i n A b a c o T h e r o l e w i l l w o r k d i r e c t l y w i t h t h e h o m e o w n e r s t o p r o v i d e d i r e c t c a r e a n d s e r v i c e t o t h e h o m e a l o n g w i t h d a i l y a c t i v i t i e s a n d s c h e d u l e d p r o g r a m m i n g T h i s p o s i t i o n i s f u l l t i m e w i t h b e n e f i t s i n c l u s i v e o f : C o m p e t i t i v e S a l a r y H o u s i n g A n n u a l T r a v e l A l l o w a n c e M e a l s I n t e r e s t e d c a n d i d a t e s m u s t p o s s e s s t h e f o l l o w i n g : 1 0 y e a r s + o f e x p e r i e n c e i n H o u s e k e e p i n g C h i l d C a r e e x p e r i e n c e a n a d d i t i o n a l b e n e f i t M u s t b e a b l e t o r e l o c a t e M u s t b e a b l e t o w o r k s h i f t s I n t e r e s t e d q u a l i f i e d a p p l i c a n t s a r e a s k e d t o e m a i l t h e i r r e s u m e t o K e n y a F a r q u h a r s o n a t k e n y a f a r q u h a r s o n 2 8 @ g m a i l c o m b y N o v e m b e r 2 0 , 2 0 2 2

NOTICE

COSCOROBA LIMITED In Voluntary Liquidation

Box N-7147,

that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act. 2000, THOLARIA NAVIGATION

Notice

. is in dissolution as of November 7, 2022 International Liquidator Services Ltd. situated at 3rd Floor Whitfield Tower, 4792 ConeyDrive, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator.

Notice is hereby given that in accordance with Section 138(4) of the International Business Companies Act. 2000, COSCOROBA LIMITED is in dissolution as of November 10, 2022 International Liquidator Services Ltd. situated at 3rd Floor Whitfield Tower, 4792 Coney Drive, Belize City, Belize is the Liquidator.

NOTICE is hereby given that EBERNE TITUS of Frazer Allotment of Soldier Road, Nassau, The Bahamas is applying to the Minister responsible for Nationality and Citizenship, for registration/ naturalization as a citizen of The Bahamas, and that any person who knows any reason why registration/naturalization should not be granted, should send a written and signed statement of the facts within twenty-eight days from the 4th day of November, 2022 to the Minister responsible for nationality and Citizenship, P.O.

Nassau, Bahamas.

INSURERS: BAHAMAS ‘DODGES BULLET’ ON HURRICANE NICOLE

FROM

thought it would go. It’s funny how these things end up impacting the land and how the surge goes.

“It was not a wind event. Whatever damage was done came from flood or sea surge. The flooding was largely caused by sea surge. The rain was not that great of an impact, but high tide and surge would have been an issue.” Asked whether the two islands struck directly by the storm, Grand Bahama and Abaco, fared differently, Mr Saunders replied: “Both are going to end up the same with mini mal damage even though Grand Bahama had the stronger winds.

“From a wind perspec tive, a Category One is not going to do any damage to our buildings that are prop erly constructed and follow the regulations. We dodged a bullet. It could have been worse, but there is going to be minimal impact. I think everyone’s probably going to be saying the same thing, minimal impact.”

He was backed by Sum mit’s Mr Ingraham, who said: “I don’t have any infor mation presently as to where we’re headed with the losses and I’d prefer not to guess. Obviously this one was noth ing like, and nowhere near, Hurricane Dorian so we can breathe easy from that perspective. This one was nothing like Dorian from a wind and rain perspective.

“We did have strong tropi cal storm force winds but it’s not expected that will do a huge amount of damage. Our building codes require that properties withstand winds up to 120 miles per hour, 140 miles per hour. Given that, we are not expecting too much damage. That’s the hope; that it’s a minimal one.”

For the Bahamian insur ance industry, the main issue now is the level of damage and insured losses in Flor ida, which Nicole completely crossed from its east to west coast, further exacerbat ing the multi-billion dollar impact inflicted by Hurri cane Ian earlier this year.

Reinsurers tend to treat The Bahamas and Florida markets as one, meaning

that huge hurricane-related damage and losses in the latter often leads to an increase in premium rates for Bahamian homeowners and businesses as they try to recover payouts. Baha mian property and casualty underwriters must acquire huge amounts of reinsur ance annually because their relatively thin capital bases mean they cannot cover the multi-billion dollar assets at risk in this nation.

The global reinsurance market has been recently been pulling back from the Caribbean due to hurricanerelated losses, meaning that already-expensive insur ance coverage, especially that which protects proper ties and other assets against hurricanes, would only

increase further due to the cutback in supply. In turn, this would push premium prices beyond the reach of more Bahamians, making insurance increasingly unaf fordable in a climate where the threat posed by Dorianstyle storms is growing.

“Right now, for us, [rein surance] capacity is more important because we have to get capacity to be able to offer a product,” Mr Saun ders told this newspaper. “Right now, our concern is more on getting capac ity and then negotiating a price. If we don’t have the capacity, we don’t have any thing to offer anyone. It is a challenge, and we are going through the process and will see how it pans out.”

Mr Ingraham agreed, saying: “We’re already in a difficult reinsurance market and anything significant [from Nicole] would make a bad situation worse. We’re hoping that it comes in as a fairly small storm. You don’t expect storms this late in the season, and it just exac erbates an already-difficult situation.

“It’s in everyone’s best interests to have an event that’s not overly dramatic in terms of losses. Most of the local companies renew their reinsurance treaties on Janu ary 1, so we’re in the middle of the renewal season. More losses is definitely not what anyone wants at this point.”

strategy. In the upcoming months, we will re-open a third location in Grand Bahama. The downtown Freeport store opening rep resents our commitment to Grand Bahamians to rebuild following the loss of our Queen’s Highway loca tion as a result of Hurricane Dorian.

“Looking at a longer term, we have future plans to expand with new store locations and new revenue streams. We are continu ing to position ourselves to achieve our sales goal of $250m by 2030. Future sites will have a smaller footprint and require less capital injec tion. We also will streamline the design and build-out process, which will aid in

efficiencies for new store builds.”

Based on current annual sales of $175m, AML Foods needs to grow its top-line by $75m over the next eight years - an annual growth rate of just over $9m - to hit that $250m target, which represents a near-43 per cent increase on the present figure.

Looking at the immedi ate term, the BISX-listed group said inventory levels have increased by 20 per cent year-over-year due to a combination of cost increases and improve stock levels. “There is no doubt that inflation and a potential recession are top of mind for economists and businesses globally, and we must be agile to manage profitability throughout this hyperinfla tionary period,” AML Foods said.

“Inflation will have a sig nificant impact on consumer spending habits. As the price of gas and other com modities rise, grocery prices are not expected to get any cheaper. We have already begun to see significant impacts on our inventory valuation from the rise in supplier costs.

“Overall, inventory levels have increased nearly 20 percent compared to the same period last year. While a portion of the increase is due to improved in-stock levels, a large portion of the increase is representative of cost increases. This has had a direct impact on our cash levels and requires us to

keep a keen eye on liquidity levels.”

The group continued: “We are betting big on technology, data insights and analytics. With con sumer behaviour shifting from month to month, it’s imperative that we make rapid decisions and be able to quickly adapt our opera tions to an ever-changing environment. Our loyalty programme has launched at the ideal time as the need to know our custom ers and offer them the right assortment, products and personalised communica tions is critical to our success in the retail industry.

“We must also be more efficient and will look at ways to improve processes and optimise or reduce our current spend to soften any impact to profitability in the event sales soften. We are well-positioned and confident that our team will continue to deliver improved results to our shareholders.”

Giving more insight into its technology plans, AML Foods added: “We have invested heavily in technol ogy over the past few years.

Implementation of our new

POS (point of sale system) was the last major step in laying the ground work for future digital projects.

“In addition to the launch of our loyalty programme, we are working to imple ment Electronic Data Interface (EDI) with our key vendors. EDI allows us to electronically exchange documents like purchase orders, invoices and other documents with suppliers, and will replace the manual process of sending these documents. This will lend to significant efficiencies in our processes for ordering and receiving products.

“Over the next 12 months, we will focus on leverag ing our loyalty programme and data analytics to under stand our customers and service them better, using technology to support our understanding of trends and areas of opportunity within the business. We anticipate an increase in our market share in Grand Bahama through the opening of our new downtown Freeport location.”

Managing time to best effect

Time management is one of the most important skills, but it is often a concept that many businesses, and people, struggle with. Small businesses, in particular, cannot afford waste through bad time management and inefficiency. However, the benefits of good time management practices are immeasurable. Businesses that use good time manage ment are better positioned to consistently deliver their product, or service, on time.

Naturally this means that employees in small busi nesses need to master the ability to use their time

FERGUSON IAN

wisely. How do you seize the day and get more done in less time? This week’s column focuses on provid ing basic tips for effectively using the scarce resource of time to accomplish more:

1. Assess how you spend your time

A brief assessment or inventory of daily activities is vital to determining those areas of wasted time and effort.

2. Create to-do lists

Simply put, item ising those critical issues helps keep the major things in view.

3. Prioritise lists

After a list is created, placing the list in order of priority is necessary.

4. Schedule time Assigning a specific time to carry out each critical function is the next step in this process.

5. Limit e-mail/social media time

Go back to the audit, and go back to reign in those periods that might be viewed as wasted time.

6. Use technology to avoid procrastination

Skillfully use technology to help organise and remind you of the priority matters on your calendar.

7. Set expectations with colleagues and family

The greatest tempta tion for time wasting is often those nearest to you. Let your team members and family know what you are doing and the need for focus.

8. Practice saying ‘no’

You cannot accept every invitation or fulfill every request. Learning to say ‘no’ will save your life, and help in your ability to be more productive.

9. Incorporate breaks into your day

Your mind and body functions best when you change the monotony of

business. Taking a vacation, lunch break and mental health days adds value to your life and the work experience.

• NB: Ian R Ferguson is a talent management and organisational develop ment consultant, having completed graduate studies with regional and interna tional universities. He has served organsations, both locally and globally, pro viding relevant solutions to their business growth and development issues. He may be contacted at tccon sultants@coralwave.com.

Grand Lucayan sale failure gives investors bad signal

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

GRAND Bahama’s Chamber of Commerce president yesterday voiced fears that the repeated failures to sell the Grand Lucayan resort will discour age other investors from coming to the island.

James Carey, speaking after the island “dodged a bullet” with the pas sage of Hurricane Nicole, urged Prime Minister Philip Davis KC to visit the island and talk with the business community on the Gov ernment’s plans for Grand Bahama’s economic devel opment after the Grand Lucayan’s $100m purchase by Electra America Hos pitality Group collapsed earlier this week.

“The deputy prime min ister (Chester Cooper) said he is not going to disclose anything new until they have a deal secured, and that is unfortunate because it doesn’t say very much about us,” he said, adding that Grand Bahama’s busi ness community needs “evidence” that something

is happening to secure the future of the island’s anchor resort property.

“Electra America was supposed to be a done deal, and then they needed more time. That turned out to be nothing,” Mr Carey said. “I can see [a need for] some degree of confidentiality, but we have been going at this trying to get this hotel sold for over two years now and even longer than that, because the original owners (Hutchison Whampoa’s real estate arm) wanted to offload that prior to Hurri cane Dorian.”

“It’s a little difficult now to accept all of these things, and it doesn’t bode well in terms of confi dence in the utterances of the politicians.” Ques tioning whether previous utterances on the Grand Lucayan were just “political or about governance”, Mr Carey added: “We are just left hanging out there, and one of the things I can say is that the Prime Minister has been to Grand Bahama a couple of times.

“They had the big ground-breaking with the Carnival Cruise Port, and he’s been back to town

a few times, but he’s not found an appropriate time yet to come and meet with the business community in Grand Bahama.”

Small businesses account for 80 percent of the jobs on Grand Bahama despite the big impact that industrial firms, such as Polymers International and Pharma chem, have as well and as the entities that make up the Grand Bahama Port

Poultry producer targets

grant for hatchery’s

By YOURI KEMP Tribune Business Reporter ykemp@tribunemedia.net

AN ABACO poultry farm yesterday said it is hoping to raise almost one-third of the $150,000 in needs to con struct a hatchery via a Small Business Development Centre (SBDC) grant.

Lance Pinder, Abaco Big Bird’s operations manager, told Tribune Business that he has been “mulling for several months” such an investment but it is not something his team are ready for quite yet.

Abaco Big Bird pro duces broiler chickens for meat, and running a hatch ery in addition to that is a significant expansion of its operations. “We applied for grant money from the SBDC for it, so let’s see if that comes through and we will go from there,” Mr Pinder said.

“The problem with doing the hatchery was you need eggs, and the egg shortage is why there is a baby chick shortage. So when you’re putting in a hatchery, you are still back to the prob lem of getting eggs for the hatchery. So what we really

wanted to do is have a small breeder flock here.

“The reason there’s a shortage of eggs is because there’s a shortage of breeder birds. But we think we have a beeline on a couple places we might be able to get some breeder birds from, so the hatchery is kind of back on the table. If you can’t get

“We are the economy of Grand Bahama, and I find it a little disconcerting that the business community is being ignored, that we’re not given the time of day, we’re not given encour agement on a number of things that are happening that are impacting us,” Mr Carey lamented.

“The fact that Carnival is coming is good, the fact

eggs or you don’t have your own breeders, there’s no point having a hatchery.”

Mr Pinder told this news paper in August he would need $150,000 to start a proper hatchery, and the SBDC grant application is worth $47,000. “That’s all we asked for, so we’ll see if that comes through,” he said, stating he has contacts who can find him the breeder birds he needs to get the hatchery started properly.

As for competition in the egg market, Mr Pinder

that the Weller Group has announced their develop ment plans (a Six Senses resort) is real good. The University of Bahamas, they’ve started their pro cess in terms of gutting the buildings. The renovation by the Milo Butler Group of the downtown facility in preparation for Solomon’s and these things together, they do start generating some economic activity.

said: “It all depends on what keeps happening. If inflation in the egg prices interna tionally stays where it is, it’s a very viable business.

If the prices plummet back down to what they were, say a year ago or year-and-ahalf ago, then it’s more of a niche market type environ ment you’re dealing with.

So it’s viable either way. It just depends on how big it’s going to be.”

Producing eggs versus breeder birds is a “whole different situation”, as less

“We need to see more, and we need to hear more, and not just what the Gov ernment can do but what the Port Authority can do and what the business com munity can do. The Prime Minister said they were going to work with eve rybody. Well, work with Grand Bahama,” the GB Chamber chief continued.

“We’re still wondering when the Prime Minister went to Dubai, and he came back and he said essentially business people in Dubai don’t want anything to do with Grand Bahama... Well, tell us why. Having uttered that message, how far did that get to Bahamian inves tors and global investors about Grand Bahama, and was that a negative about Grand Bahama?

“This failure of the sale of the Grand Lucayan is not a good thing. It raises questions. It’s a nega tive because that means nobody is ready to jump and invest, in this case with a huge investment, because the Grand Lucayan - apart from its purchase price - is going to require substantial investment to bring it up to a reasonable standard.”

start-up capital is needed compared to egg produc tion. “When you deal with meat birds you need the whole processing space, and you don’t just need growing space,” Mr Pinder explained.

“You need the whole pro cessing plant. Even if you’re small you still need a pro cessing facility to slaughter, package, freeze the chick ens, store the chickens. But with eggs, it is a little simpler because the storage needed for eggs is simpler because they have a longer shelf life.”

In

Notice is hereby given that all persons having any claim or demand against the above Estate are required to send their names, addresses and particulars of the same certified in writing to the undersigned on or before the 6th day of December, A.D., 2022, and if required, prove such debts or claims, or in default be excluded from any distribution; after the above date the assets will be distributed having regard only to the proved debts or claims of which the Executrix shall then have had Notice.

And Notice is hereby given that all persons indebted to the said Estate are requested to make full settlement on or before the aforementioned date.

WHITE LAW CHAMBERS

Attorneys for the Executrix Building 9A Village Road P.O.Box SS-19619 Nassau, The Bahamas

Authority’s (GBPA) Port Group Ltd.

SBDC

first $47,000

GRAND LUCAYAN RESORT

the Estate of DEBORAH ELIZABETH RAINE late of #29 Harmony Hill off Village Road in the Eastern District of the Island of New Providence one of the Islands of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, deceased.

Regulator ‘freezes’ FTX and sends in liquidator

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

REGULATORS yesterday moved to protect clients of The Bahamas’ flagship crypto currency investor by “freezing” its assets, and seizing con trol of the company, amid reports it acquired $74m in local real estate this year alone.

The Securities Commission, which Tribune Business revealed yesterday was probing FTX’s near collapse, said the Supreme Court had approved Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton partner and head of its litigation practice group, as joint provisional liquidator with powers to take control of the crypto exchange’s Bahamian company and affiliate entities.

The digital assets regulator, in a statement, said it had suspended FTX Digital Markets’ registration under

$73m ‘zero carbon’ project targets 36k annual visitors

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

A $73m investment is aiming to attract 36,000 guests per year at full build-out of a “zero carbon” residential and yacht community on an Exuma cay located just three miles from Georgetown.

The Ki’ama Bahamas project, in an Environ mental Impact Assessment (EIA) viewed by Tribune Business, said its plans to develop a 36-acre commu nity on the southern third of Elizabeth Island will create permanent employ ment for 80-85 Bahamians as well as 45-60 local jobs

during the three to fouryear construction period.

Describing their vision for a “first-class, fully sus tainable, zero carbon, solar-powered residence and yacht community”, the developer consortium said: “Resort guests and owners will have the ability to enjoy the world’s most pristine and undiscov ered destinations without negatively impacting the environment.....

“Ki’ama Bahamas’ project construction time line is anticipated to be up to five years. Total development costs are anticipated to be up to $73m. At full build, the project anticipates annu ally accommodating up

• Ki’ama

Bahamas to create up to 85 full-time jobs

• Exuma location to preserve 80% of existing site

• Trust: Could be National Park development model

to 36,000 guests spanning nearly 10,000 occupied room nights, or a projec tion of nearly 5,000 round trips to The Bahamas. The annual guest projection equates to roughly 100 average guests per day on both land and sea.

“Even if all guests were on land, this would equate to approximately three guests per acre. Despite the low-density nature of the project’s occupancy, to mitigate potential impact to the environment

‘Don’t build financial services on crypto’

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

FTX’s collapse into pro visional liquidation is a warning that The Bahamas should “not build the whole financial services recovery” on digital assets, a promi nent Bahamian accountant said yesterday.

Kendrick Christie, presi dent of the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners Bahamas chapter (ACFE), told Tribune Business the crypto exchange’s plight further exposed how vola tile the still-evolving digital assets industry is and why The Bahamas should not solely rely on this niche to revive the financial services sector.

Speaking before the Securities Commission obtained Supreme Court permission for Brian Simms KC, the Lennox Paton part ner and head of its litigation practice, to be installed as FTX’s provisional liqui dator, he added that this week’s developments likely mean enhanced scrutiny and due diligence will be applied to new digital assets players entering The Baha mas to establish a physical presence and/or conduct business.

Asserting that this, and FTX’s uncertain fate, is likely to “rattle the cage” of new entrants, Mr Chris tie told this newspaper that much depends on how The Bahamas handles the

AML Foods targets e-commerce launch

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BISX-listed AML Foods is planning to launch an e-commerce division during its current financial year that will enable the group to supply clients “through out The Bahamas”.

The Solomon’s and Cost Right operator unveiled the initiative in the justreleased annual report for its 2022 financial year that closed at end-April, indicating that it plans to continue with an aggressive store expansion strategy

into new locations build ing off its Exuma Markets acquisition.

“We plan to launch our e-commerce division in this 2022-2023 fiscal year and are excited about servic ing islands throughout The Bahamas, utilising tech nology and expanding on our already strong logistics expertise,” the food retail and franchise group wrote, although it gave no specifics on the plans.

“Our Exuma store has proved a great addition to our fleet, and is only the first of several addi tions to support our growth

the Digital Assets and Registered Exchanges (DARE) Act follow ing the multi-billion liquidity crisis sparked by a client stampede for the exits. The move also comes amid multiple ongoing probes by supervi sory authorities and law enforcement agencies worldwide, including the US Justice Department and Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).

The freeze obtained by the Securi ties Commission means that no assets belonging to FTX Digital Markets, or client assets that it holds in a trust or fiduciary capacity, can be sold, “trans ferred, assigned or otherwise dealt with” without Mr Simms’ permission.

The Lennox Paton partner has taken full control of the crypto exchange’s main Bahamian company, with the powers of its directors now suspended via the Supreme Court Order.

Insurers: Bahamas ‘dodges bullet’ on Hurricane Nicole

By NEIL HARTNELL Tribune Business Editor nhartnell@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN insur ers yesterday asserted that the nation has “dodged a bullet” with Hurricane Nicole amid expectations that it will produce “mini mal” losses and damage.

Anton Saunders, Royal Star Assurance’s managing director, told Tribune Busi ness the storm - which only grew to a Category One hurricane when it reached Grand Bahama - had deliv ered a much weaker blow than property and casualty underwriters had initially expected.

As a result, claims pay outs will be less than the industry had originally braced for, although he declined to reveal both initial estimates and pro jections for what the actual numbers might be. The RoyalStar chief added that the Nicole outcome “doesn’t hurt”, especially given that Bahamian insur ers are already locked in difficult negotiations for reinsurance treaty renewals.

The availability and cost of reinsurance is a growing

concern, due to several companies exiting the Caribbean catastrophe coverage market in recent years as a result of multibillion dollar losses on past storms. Timothy Ingraham, Summit Insurance Com pany’s managing director, yesterday agreed that the industry could “breathe easy” now that Nicole has passed since major damages and claims payouts would only have “further compli cated” reinsurance talks. Both he and Mr Saun ders said they would have a better idea on the likely losses and damage inflicted by Nicole, and the level and amount of claims payouts, by today once clients had assessed their insured assets and loss adjusters had reached the Abaco cays to conduct assessments.

“People are just get ting back to work and doing assessments on their various properties,” Mr Saunders explained. “It’s not as bad as we thought it would have been for sure. It is below what we thought we were going to get. There was storm surge, but it didn’t go as far as we

CLUB KI’AMA RENDERING

BRIAN SIMMS KC